Drought worsens human-wildlife conflict in Namibia

Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism said Thursday this year alone there have been four fatal incidents where people have been killed by wildlife.

There have been 109 recorded cases of livestock killed and an average of 218 hectares of crops destroyed during the period, the country's Minister of Environment Pohamba Shifeta told a conference on human wildlife conflict.

Shifeta said that it is evident that the wide spread serious drought in Namibia has aggravated the situation.

"People and wildlife in several places compete for the same resources. People, particularly in the Kunene region have simply invaded land set aside for wildlife by conservancies, with consequently severe conflicts ," he said.

"Nonetheless, there are ways to mitigate such conflicts and the ministry is engaged within its resource limits in this matter, " he added.

Meanwhile, Shifeta acknowledged that living with wildlife often carries a cost, as there is frequent conflicts between people and wild animals, particularly elephants and predators in many areas.

The minister noted, that it will not be possible to eradicate all conflict between humans and wildlife, but the conflict can be managed.

Last year alone the ministry recorded 16 loss of lives, 1 injury, 554 livestock killed and 222 hectares of crops damaged across Namibia. Endit