Zimbabwe to Cull 50 Elephants, Distribute Meat to Local Communities

Zimbabwean wildlife authorities have announced plans to kill dozens of elephants as part of a population control effort, with the meat from the animals set to be distributed to nearby communities.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) confirmed on Tuesday that it has granted permits to Save Valley Conservancy, a large private game reserve in the country’s southeast, to carry out what it described as an “elephant management exercise.”

According to ZimParks, the operation will initially target 50 elephants to address overpopulation within the conservancy, where an aerial survey conducted in 2024 recorded 2,550 elephants—more than triple the area’s ecological carrying capacity of 800.

“This is a targeted management quota aimed at protecting the habitat and ensuring sustainable conservation,” ZimParks said in a statement. It added that over the past five years, 200 elephants have already been relocated from the reserve to other parts of Zimbabwe.

The agency stated that while elephant meat from the operation will be distributed to local residents, all ivory obtained will be treated as state property and handed over to ZimParks for safekeeping. Zimbabwe remains bound by a global ban on ivory trade, which prohibits it from selling its growing stockpile of elephant tusks.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo told ABC News the move should not be considered a mass culling. “This is not culling, which involves eliminating entire herds in large numbers,” he said. Farawo did not disclose how long the exercise would last or whether more elephants may be killed beyond the initial 50.

Zimbabwe holds the second-largest elephant population in the world, behind neighboring Botswana. Conservationists have long debated how best to manage rising elephant numbers, which some say strain fragile ecosystems and lead to increased human-wildlife conflict.