Namibia’s elephant middleman

Middlemen had an elephant feast at the recent auction where some bought the jumbos for peanuts and went on to them on international markets, raking in millions, a Namibian Sun probe has found.After all, nothing could stop them from playing the speculators role because government has not placed any conditions on the elephants sold at a December 2020 auction - all it wanted was a minimum amount of N$75 000 per elephant.One such speculator is well-known Go Hunt Safaris owner Gerrie Odendaal, whose farm is situated in the Gobabis area.Odendaal paid N$3.3 million to take ownership of 22 elephants.Barely six months after he got the gentle giants, he sold them to the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE), through controversial international wildlife trader Elske Burger (Luus).The entire deal, Namibian Sun understands, was worth just under N$50 million.The elephants were sold to the Al Ain Zoo, a 400-hectare animal sanctuary located on the foothills of Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, and to the 800-hectare Sharjah Safari Park, which claims to be the largest outside Africa. It features 12 environments that represent the life and terrain in Africa. The section created for elephants is called Niger Valley.The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, of which Al Ain Zoo is a member, criticised the transaction, saying its code of ethics were not met and promised to impose penalties on the UAE outfit.Entire packageInternationally renowned wildlife trafficking investigator Karl Ammann, who is also scrutinising the export of the 22 Namibian elephants to Dubai, confirmed to Namibian Sun that the facilitator behind the deal was in fact Burger.Ammann last week visited both zoos as part of his investigation before the elephants arrived at the facilities.Ammann said the N$50 million was for the “entire package”, which included transport costs of the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo flight from Namibia to the UAE. This he established through very reliable sources, he said.The flight left the Hosea Kutako International airport the night of 5 March, with Burger allegedly also on board, and arrived safely in the UAE the following day.Meanwhile, according to Amman, Odendaal was compensated very well, receiving a cut of US$950 000 (N$14.37 million at yesterday’s exchange rate.)Both Odendaal and Burger refused to comment, with Odendaal saying the transaction is “private and confidential.”“I respectfully decline any interviews or responses to the media now and in the future,” he said. He also did not reply when questioned about the role Burger played in the transaction.The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority released a list of elephant sales since 2016. On the list, it declared the income it earned from elephants and what it spent the money on. It also named individuals in connection to the trades. It named Burger in a 2018 trade, also to the UAE.None of our businessThe environment and tourism ministry said it played no role in the international sale, apart from providing the necessary documentation to enable the transportation of the animals.The ministry’s executive director Teofilus Nghitila said government’s responsibility was only to secure the necessary permits for the export of the elephants.Government is also not bothered about missing out on potential millions had it sold the animals on the international market.“I wish to clarify in this case that the export of these elephants was a private transaction between the private owner of the elephants and their clients in the UAE.The ministry had no stake in this transaction apart from providing the necessary permits as were applied for by the owner,” Nghitila said.This follows the auctioning of 170 elephants in which 57 elephants were sold to three bidders.Concerns have consistently been raised about the fact that Namibia undersold its elephants to the bidders, however, this was dismissed by Nghitila.He pointed out that the amounts the bidders paid for elephants did not include any costs related to capture, translocation or care of the elephants and that the buyers are responsible for all of these costs.Peanuts“Some people may say this is peanuts we received, but the most expensive exercise is when it comes to capture, translocation and also to care for the elephants after capturing.”Questions were also raised why Namibia has been using these ‘middlemen’ instead of selling the animals directly to the UAE zoos.To this, Nghitila responded that the bidding process is open to everyone.“We would not know that you are bidding on behalf of anyone. If your bid is responsive and meeting the requirements, then you may be considered as a successful bidder. There are strict requirements. First of all, you have to fulfil the export permits. Most of the bidders failed to do that. You may have a good offer, but you do not have a permit to the country of export. So, that become really problematic,” he said.

Namibia’s elephant middleman

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-12

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Namibia’s elephant middleman

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-12

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