Zimbabwe has issued permits to cull at least 50 elephants on a reserve where the elephant population is three times greater than the habitat’s capacity, wildlife authorities announced on Tuesday.
The Save Valley Conservancy in southern Zimbabwe is home to approximately 2,550 elephants, while its “carrying capacity” is only 800 elephants, according to a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
The conservancy has already relocated 200 elephants to other reserves over the past five years in an effort to manage its elephant population.
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Meat from the cull will be distributed to local communities for consumption, while the ivory from the killed animals will be handed over to the parks authority.
Zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant populations globally, and climate change has exacerbated human-wildlife conflict as elephants increasingly encroach on human settlements in search of food and water.
The Southern African nation authorized another cull of about 200 elephants last year, the first since 1988. At the time, authorities stated they would distribute meat from the cull to communities affected by a severe regional drought, shortly after Namibia announced similar plans.
