57 wild elephants sold in Namibia to control the number
Xinhua News Agency, Windhoek, August 11 (Reporter Wu Changwei) Namibia's Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said on the 11th that Namibia sold 57 wild elephants through auctions.
Romeo Muyonda, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism of Namibia, said that 15 of the auctioned elephants will remain in Namibia and 42 will be exported.
The work of capturing these wild elephants will begin this month and will be carried out by registered hunting operators and will be supervised by the Ministry of the Environment.
Mu Yongda said that the purpose of auctioning elephants is to control the number of wild elephants in specific areas and minimize human-elephant conflicts.
The funds obtained from the auction will be used for wildlife protection in Namibia and management of conflicts between humans and wildlife.
According to official data, the number of elephants in Namibia has increased from more than 7,500 in 1995 to approximately 24,000 in 2019.