Zimbabwe Approves Killing, Eating More Elephants

Dozens of elephants in Zimbabwe are set to be killed in a controversial effort to control soaring population numbers, with the meat to be distributed to local communities. The move comes as officials warn that elephant numbers in the Save Valley Conservancy, a major private game reserve in the southeast, have far exceeded the land's capacity to sustain them. A 2024 aerial survey found 2,550 elephants in the reserve, which authorities say can only sustainably support about 800, per ABC News. Permits will now be issued for an "elephant management exercise" that will initially target 50 animals, said Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks).

Over the past five years, the reserve has moved about 200 elephants to other areas, but ZimParks says numbers need to be further reduced to manage the ecosystem, per Reuters. Meat from the slaughtered elephants will be distributed to nearby communities, while ZimParks will take possession of the tusks for safekeeping, complying with a global ban on ivory trade. A ZimParks rep says the current action does not qualify as "culling" as that would involve the large-scale elimination of entire herds, per ABC. He did not specify the total number of elephants that will be killed or provide a timeline for the exercise. (Zimbabwe approved the culling and eating of another 200 elephants last year.)