18 Jun 2019
Starvation fears prompt drought-hit Namibia to auction wild animals
BY Andy Knaggs
The Namibian government is looking to auction at least a thousand wild animals from its national parks that might otherwise become victims of its drought climate.
Meteorological services in the southern African country have estimated that some parts of the country face the deadliest drought in 90 years, resulting in extremely poor grazing conditions in many of the national parks.
Romeo Muyunda, the spokesperson for the government's environment ministry, illustrated the starkness of the situation in saying: "If we do not reduce the number of animals, this will lead to loss of animals due to starvation."
Six hundred disease-free buffalo, 150 springbok, 65 oryx, 60 giraffes, 35 eland, 28 elephants, 20 impala, 16 wildebeest and 16 kudus are all included in the auction, which Namibia hopes will raise around US$1.1m (€980,000, £880,000) for its Game Products Trust Fund for wildlife conservation and parks management.
According to media reports, the Namibian government is still working out the finer points of the auction but has indicated that the sale will be based on open bids.
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