Namibia Forced to Auction 1,000 Wild Animals Due to Drought

By teleSUR

17 June 19

Namibia has decided to sell a thousand wild animals to save them from drought. The country also hopes to recover $1.1 million for wildlife conservation.

s a result of a drought affecting the southern African nation of Namibia since April, the country has decided to take a radical step that would see them auctioning at least 1,000 wild animals.

“Given that this year is a drought year, the ministry of environment would like to sell various type of game species from various protected areas to protect grazing," said the environment ministry spokesperson.

This drastic measure is intended to avoid the same losses as last year. According to a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, more than 60,000 animals died in 2018 due to dry weather.

The auction should make it possible to save Wildlife species including buffalos, springboks, giraffes, elephants, and impalas which are in protected areas.

“The grazing condition in most of our parks is extremely poor and if we do not reduce the number of animals, this will lead to loss of animals due to starvation,” the spokesperson added.

The government also hopes to raise more than $1 million through the auction which will serve to wildlife conservation and national parks management.

"At the same time, we would also like to generate much-needed funding for parks and wildlife management,” said the environment ministry.

The country of 2.4 million people is suffering one of the deadliest droughts for the past decades. Lack of water directly affects people and nearly one in five Namibians do not have access to sufficient food.

Last month, the President declared a state of emergency due to the national disaster and requested international assistance.