80 pct poaching incidents under control in Namibia: minister

Namibia's Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta said that poaching incidents in June, in comparison with last year, have drastically dropped.

The minister said, in terms of the incidents recorded around the country, he can safely say they are 80 percent under control, since the ministry has been putting measures and availing resources to curb illegal poaching activities.

"We are not yet at 100 percent, but the situation seems to be under control. We just need to be more well prepared to deal with threats to the rhino and elephant populations," he added.

Shifeta said this on Thursday during the handover and unveiling of the ministry's first purchased helicopter, worth 46 million Namibian dollars, which will be used to aid, National Parks and Wildlife with their anti-poaching initiatives.

Prior to the purchase of their own helicopter, the ministry had received helicopter support from the Namibian police Force and Defense forces.

"We still need to do more with the little resources we have and ensure there are no illegal activities. There is a high need of conducting aerial patrols and surveillance to cover all parts of our national parks, hence the ministry has now purchased a helicopter to be used for that," he said.

Furthermore, he said the helicopter will also be used for other activities such as game capture, park fence inspections as well as human and wildlife conflict management.

"The helicopter is equipped that it can fly at night. It will complement our vehicle, foot and horse patrols. Poachers should be warned and we are serious when we say, Stop the poaching," he said.

Meanwhile, the minister is disgruntled by the early release of poachers, who would have been caught dealing in illegal activities.

"Arrests are being made, but it seems the perpetrators are getting off easily and getting easy bail," he said. Endit