Zimbabwe to kill dozens of elephants and distribute meat to people

(LONDON) — Zimbabwe has announced that dozens of its elephants will be killed to control the population size and the meat from the carcasses will be distributed to people.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, also known as ZimParks, said it has issued permits to Save Valley Conservancy, a large private game reserve in the southeast, “for an elephant management exercise.”

“The management quota is meant to address the growing elephant population in the region and will initially target 50 elephants,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday. “According to the 2024 aerial survey, there are 2,550 elephants against an ecological carrying capacity of 800 elephants in Save Valley Conservancy.”

The reserve has translocated 200 elephants to other areas in the southern African natio