Shifeta denies hand in elephant export deal

Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta has denied allegations that a deal to export 22 elephants to the United Arab Emirates was sealed during a trip he took to Dubai. He stressed that the ministry sold the elephants directly to Namibians, and not to anyone in Dubai.“I was in Dubai during the launch of the tourism expo and I have never discussed any elephant-related deal with any entity in Dubai. The elephants were sold to individual Namibian buyers and one of those buyers has decided to sell his elephants to Dubai,” he said in response to questions posed in parliament. Shifeta said the ministry offered 170 elephants for sale through an open public bidding process which opened on 3 December 2020 and closed on 29 January 2021. The intention of the sale was to reduce elephant numbers in selected areas - identified as human-elephant conflict hotspots - to mitigate extensive damage to property, loss of life and disruption of people’s livelihoods. The 170 adult elephants included 30 from the Omatjete area, 50 from Kamanjab commercial farming area, 60 from Grootfontein-Kavango cattle ranch area and 30 from the Grootfontein-Tsumkwe area, he said.“Out of the 170 adults offered for sale, only 57 were successfully sold and the buyers are individual Namibians, who are now the legal owners of those elephants.”The minister added that of the 57 sold, 37 have been captured and fully paid for, of which 15 remain in Namibia and the other 22 were exported to Dubai by a Namibian buyer. “The 15 elephants that have remained in Namibia were captured from the Khorixas area and these are the same elephants that also roamed in the Omatjete area.”According to Shifeta, the 22 elephants which have been exported were captured from the Kamanjab commercial farming area. The remaining 20 elephants are still to be captured pending a signed agreement and full payment. After being bought by Namibian buyer Gerrie Odendaal, 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.Million-dollar dealThe ministry is expected to generate a total of N$5.9 million from this sale once all the animals have been paid for, Shifeta said.He stressed that this amount does not include the cost of capture, translocation or care, which are all additional costs the buyers are responsible for. “It is important to note that the ministry sold elephants to Namibian buyers only, hence we are not responsible for any logistic arrangements related to the exportation of any elephants. Our sole responsibility as government is to issue all necessary documents/permits as applied for by the buyer, who is the exporter.” However, Shifeta said that he is aware that a cargo plane landed at Hosea Kutako International Airport on 3 March this year to transport 22 elephants to Dubai. The same plane left on 4 March with the elephants on board, he said. ‘Nothing secretive’“There is nothing secretive about this operation. There is nothing illegal or unlawful for an individual owner of wild animals to sell his or her animals inside or outside the country - as long as legal requirements of both domestic law and international are met. This is not a new practice.”The minister said as for the transportation of elephants taking place at night, this is the norm. “Live animals are better transported at night when it is cooler because during the day it is too hot. High temperatures can lead to unnecessary loss of animals.”He added that the funds generated through the sale will be reinvested in wildlife conservation, more specifically for the management of human-wildlife conflict in communal area conservancies and other elephant conflict hotspot areas. Shifeta further said tourists mainly come to Africa to see animals in their natural habitats. “Even if some animals are exported to foreign countries, the natural habitat will never be exported.”

Shifeta denies hand in elephant export deal

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

Please login to leave a comment

Shifeta denies hand in elephant export deal

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

Please login to leave a comment

Login