MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2021) Namibia has sold only a third of all the wild elephants that it put up for auction due to excessive population growth and a growth in conflict with humans, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said on Wednesday.
"The Ministry has successfully sold 57 out of the 170 elephants which were put on tender in December 2020. The sale of these elephants will raise a total 5.9 million Namibian Dollars [$396,228] and attracted five bidders of which only three were successful," the ministry said in a statement.
Of those sold, 15 elephants were sold to private owners in the African nation, while 42 others will be exported out of Namibia, the statement read, adding that the animals will be corralled later this month.
According to the ministry, the auction, which ran from on December 3, 2020 to January 29, 2021, was aimed at reducing the number of elephants in certain areas to minimize conflict between the animals and humans, which have become persistent and result in extensive damages to properties, deaths and the disruption of people's livelihoods.
The auction has been widely criticized by conservationists, who cast doubt on the population data and claims of human-elephant conflict � the two main factors the Namibian authorities cite to justify the sale. Conservationists have even launched a petition denouncing the auction that has gathered over 1,000 signatures, in an attempt to prevent the sale.
