Namibia announced on Wednesday that it had sold 57 elephants in an attempt to reduce the population of these mammals under pressure from drought and land disputes with humans.
A total of 170 elephants were the subject of a call for tenders launched in December 2020.
The government thus collected 5.9 million Namibian dollars (400,000 dollars) thanks to this sale.
Forty-two elephants will be exported to destinations the government has not disclosed.
To control overpopulation
Namibia, a semi-arid country in sparsely populated southern Africa, has nearly 28,000 elephants, according to official estimates.
The government resorted to the sale of live animals after it was criticized for shooting elephants to control overpopulation.
Environment Ministry spokesman Romeo Muyunda attributed the low level of sales to buyers' financial means and conditions of sale.
“It's an auction, so buying and selling is done by chance, there is no guarantee neither for the seller nor for the potential buyers,” he said.
Some potential customers may have backed down because “there has been a lot of negative publicity surrounding this sale,” he added.
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Buffaloes, giraffes, elephants ... Namibia will sell a thousand wild animals because of the drought
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