Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Service has not cheated the facts for long. We need lost money due to the drop in tourism income linked to the epidemic.
“We have a budget of about $ 25 million for our operations.” Tinashe Farao, a spokesman for the American radio, said: »We are improving this budget in part through fishing licenses. And tourism has practically stopped due to the Corona virus. “That is why a decision was made to sell the rights to kill around 500 elephants in the near future.
It is not known how much these licenses, which are coveted by major game hunters, are sold. Most of the hunters will likely come from overseas to shoot the mammals in the medium term.
The advertisement caused animal rights activists to be misunderstood. “We strongly condemn trophy hunting,” said Simiso Melevu, spokeswoman for the Human Rights and Environment Group’s Natural Resources Management Center.
They argue that hunting would spark new conflicts between humans and wildlife. Elephants in particular can damage villages if they see animals from their herd being killed.
Photo safaris instead of hunting trips
It also does not want to accept the possible argument for depleting populations in order to protect species: “Contrary to some government statements, this has nothing to do with preventive measures. The catalyst is greed – and it is not always clear what happens to the money. More action is needed. Environmentally friendly, for example to generate income through a pictorial safari.
at Zimbabwe There are over 84,000 elephants. There were reports in the fall of last year For the death of many animals It was given in Hwange National Park. Authorities now assume the elephants died of a bacterial infection.