‘Dangers of Zoonotic Diseases’: African Country Planning to Cull Wildlife to Feed People Gets Warned
Namibia is facing its worst drought in a century, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in May 2024. Currently, around 1.2 million people, or 40% of the population analyzed, are experiencing severe food insecurity. In response, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Tourism has announced a controversial plan to cull over 700 wild animals, including elephants, hippos, and zebras, to supply game meat for a drought relief program. This decision has drawn criticism from animal rights groups, particularly PETA, which argues that the culling is a misguided solution that may be influenced by profit motives from trophy hunting rather than the genuine need to address food shortages. PETA also raises concerns about potential public health risks associated with butchering wild animals, highlighting the dangers of zoonotic diseases which can transfer from animals to humans. Despite the government’s intentions to mitigate human-wildlife conflict as well, critics underscore that the plan could have severe ethical implications and unintended consequences.
One African nation’s aggressive plan to tackle its myriad of problems has some critics sounding an awfully familiar alarm.
Namibia recently revealed some drastic measures being taken to combat, as CNN put it, “its worst drought in 100 years.”
That drought has been so severe that the Namibian government declared a state of emergency in May.
Per ReliefWeb, “Between April and June 2024, an estimated 1.2 million people (40 percent of the analysed population) in Namibia face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) and require urgent action to reduce food gaps and protect livelihoods.”
The country’s Ministry of Environment Forestry & Tourism posted an update on Aug. 28 detailing one of the more drastic steps it was taking to address these historic droughts.
“The Ministry with Cabinet approval is contributing game meat to support the drought relief programme by government,” the update said. “The Ministry will contribute 723 animals comprising 30 Hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue Wilderbeast, 300 Zebras, 83 elephants and 100 elands.
“The animals are sourced from national parks and communal area with sustainable game numbers.”
The move, perhaps unsurprisingly, drew the ire of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The group’s Indian branch posted this, with an accompanying article:
Is profit from trophy hunting the real reason Namibia plans to slaughter over 700 wild animals, including 83 elephants, 30 hippos and 300 zebras?
Tell Namibia what you think. Take action now: https://t.co/0PUkWq2EG7
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) September 3, 2024
While PETA resorted to some familiar tactics throughout the article, the organization did also actually attempt to appeal more to logic than feelings, which is atypical of it.
“The government’s plan to slaughter over 700 wild animals is a misguided attempt to address complex issues like drought and human-wildlife conflicts. The country claims that the slaughter will provide meat for its hungry population due to the ongoing drought,” PETA argued.
The group added: “The plan is not only cruel but also insufficient and dangerously shortsighted.”
It’s at this point that PETA actually pivoted to echoing the contentious fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The risks of butchering and consuming wild animals extend far beyond Namibia’s borders. SARS, HIV, Ebola, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic are all stark reminders of the dangers of zoonotic diseases, which can jump from animals to humans,” PETA warned. “Namibia’s plan not only puts its own population at risk but also threatens global public health by increasing the likelihood of another pandemic.”
Interestingly enough, PETA actually goes a step further — with little evidence or proof — and accused the Namibian government of shady behavior.
“Because the plan is so blatantly short-sighted, there are growing suspicions that the slaughter may be driven by motives other than feeding the hungry,” PETA wrote. “Reports suggest that trophy hunters are being allowed to kill some of these animals for a fee, raising concerns that profit may be a driving factor in these cruel plans.”
The original notice from the Namibian government came Aug. 26.
Another reason the government listed for the culling was to reduce growing instances of human-wildlife conflict, particularly with elephants.
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