Romeo Muyunda, Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism Spokesperson said eight Namibians lost their lives to human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in 2021 compared to two cases recorded in 2020 and six in 2019.

Muyunda on Tuesday said four of the fatalities recorded this year were from crocodile attacks while two were trampled by elephants and the other two were attacked by hippos.

“Accordingly, in line with the National Human-Wildlife Conflict Management Policy’s self-reliance scheme, the families of the victims were each given 100,000 Namibian dollars as compensation.’’

He said the country recorded 12 injuries this year compared to 13 in 2020 and nine in 2019.

According to statistics provided by the ministry, Namibia has paid out close to 6 million Namibian dollars (402,943 U.S. dollars) for loss of livestock, crop damage, injury, and death.

In July 2021, a new report from WWF and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), warned that conflict between people and animals, from China’s famed wandering elephants raiding farms for food and water to wolves preying on cattle in Idaho is one of the main threats to the long-term survival of some of the world’s most emblematic species, warns

Human-wildlife conflict – when struggles arise from people and animals coming into contact – often leads to people killing animals in self-defense, or as pre-emptive or retaliatory killings, which can drive species to extinction.

The report, “A future for all – the need for human-wildlife coexistence”, highlights that globally, conflict-related killing affects more than 75 per cent of the world’s wild cat species, as well as many other terrestrial and marine carnivore species such as polar bears and Mediterranean monk seals, and large herbivores such as elephants.

Plateau varsity ASUU commences indefinite strike

“Within a human lifetime, we have already seen extraordinary and unparalleled changes to our planet.

Global wildlife populations have fallen an average of 68 per cent since 1970,” says Margaret Kinnaird, Global Wildlife Practice Leader at WWF International.

“Human-wildlife conflict, in combination with other threats, has driven a significant decline of species that were once abundant, and species that are naturally less abundant have been pushed to the brink of extinction.

“Unless urgent action is taken, this devastating trend will only worsen, wreaking detrimental and, in some cases, irreversible impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity,” she added. (Xinhua/NAN)