Windhoek - THE shooting of three elephant bulls in the Kunene Region will not put the desert-adapted elephant population at risk, says Environment Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.

According to her, the elephant population in the region is healthy and growing at about 3,3 per cent per year.

"The current levels of consumptive off-take are extremely conservative.

They are well below sustainable off-take levels and the population continues to grow and expand.

There are more elephants in Namibia today than at any time in the past 100 years," Nandi-Ndaitwah said in Windhoek on Friday.

Conservation bodies such as Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA) have protested the Ministry's decision to grant trophy-hunting permits for three desert elephant bulls in Kunene.

They said this would have catastrophic effects on the small population of elephants in the region.

EHRA said there were fewer than 60 adult elephant cows and only five bulls of breeding age in the region in 2006.

Nandi-Ndaitwah denied this, however.

She said Namibia's total elephant population was over 16 000, and 365 elephants were counted in that area in June last year.

"With the counted elephant number of 365 in that particular area, there us no way that the sex ratio of the population could be skewed to three bulls only," she said.

The quotas included 'problem animals', she said, and the Ministry would only grant approval in exceptional circumstances for any other 'problem' elephants to be shot in Kunene.

She said human-wildlife conflict was high in the Kunene Region and addressing the problem required striking a balance between conservation priorities and the needs of people living with wildlife.

The Minister also confirmed that an elephant was shot in the Bwabwata National Park on August 8, but said it was not to provide meat for a traditional feast.

Tour operator Andrew Momber last week told The Namibian that an elephant was shot dead in the park in front of several tourists, who were so shocked that they cut short their tours.

A source at one of the tourist lodges in the area said the elephant and a hippo were shot to provide meat for the inauguration feast of Chief Joseph Mayuni of the Mafwe tribe.

According to Nandi-Ndaitwah, however, no hippo was shot.She said game rangers from the Susuwe Ranger Station shot the elephant cow in self-defence because it was pushing against their vehicle, threatening to overturn it.

The meat was donated to the community, the Minister said.

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