Ester Mbathera
The government has been working for months to rescue 200 hippos stranded in mud puddles that shrink rapidly along a 16-kilometer stretch of the Chobe River in the Salambala conservation area. In one of the driest countries south of the Sahara, a terrible drought aggravated by the scarcity of rains has left these wild animals stranded for the past four months in an isolated and dry channel.
To prevent his death, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Tourism has dug sounding wells and used pumps to supply water to ponds.
But it has authorized almost at the same time the slaughter of hundreds of wild animals from different national parks, including 30 hippos and 83 elephants, to reduce their population due to the shortage of pastures and water.
In an extent that may arouse cultural misgivings, the meat will go to the relief program launched by the Government to alleviate the effects of the drought, described as the worst the country has suffered in 100 years, and that forced it to declare a state of emergency in May.
It is calculated that 1.4 million Namibians (48% of the inhabitants) face high levels of acute food insecurity and require urgent measures to reduce deficiencies and protect their livelihoods, according to the Integrated Phase Classification (CIF, in Spanish, IPC, in English), a globally recognized tool for analyzing food security and nutrition.
In Namibia about 1500 hippos live, mainly in the Zambezi and Kavango regions, in the northeast of the country, bordering Botswana, Angola and Zambia, where abundant wetlands generally maintain their populations throughout the year.
However, this year these regions have not escaped drought.
Fabian Libanda, administrator of the Salambala conservation area in the Zambezi region, has watched with increasing despair as wild hippos languished in the four muddy ponds that have formed when the river dried up.
“It is heartbreaking to see them helpless, covered in mud, disoriented and struggling to survive ”, he explained in an interview with this newspaper in mid-August.
“So far we have been lucky not to lose any, but without additional support, we will soon be counting corpses ”. Libanda describes the situation in Salambala as “desperate “ and points out that it poses a serious threat not only to stranded hippos, but also to other wild animals, including crocodiles, and the fragile ecosystems that depend on the river.
It also claims that the “crisis profoundly affects ” local communities, whose livelihood is closely linked to the survival of hippos.
“The communities living in and around Chobe have lost the livelihoods they previously obtained from tourism and fishing activities ”, he explains.
Thus, boat cruises with tourists who came mainly to observe hippos and crocodiles in their wild habitat are no longer possible.
“The four ponds —Rungara, England, Sinda and Munambezi — house more than 200 hippos and dozens of crocodiles ”, he says. “Since hippos are extremely territorial, most did not leave the riverbed even though it was drying up, and although they can still access some pastures at night, their situation during the day is critical and requires urgent intervention. ”.
Libanda explains that, to alleviate the crisis, the Salambala conservation area has worked closely with the Government of Namibia and the Botswana authorities, and although some help has already come to Rungara, the other three ponds still need urgent assistance.
In June, government workers pumped water into the pond to relieve hippos, who by then no longer had other sources of water.
“The pressure to relieve something, but we need more pumps to bring water to these animals ”, says Libanda, and insists: “Without immediate action, the loss of life will be devastating ”.
Romeo Muyunda, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Tourism, explains that the state of the hippos was evaluated in May, and at that time the situation “had reached a critical point that required immediate measures to alleviate the anguish of animals ”.
“In July we acquired a new, higher capacity pump that was added to several already installed on site.”
Since then, the water level “has significantly improved ”, which according to Muyunda, has allowed hippos “to fully submerge again ”.
“We can safely affirm that the immediate crisis has been resolved, hopefully until the next rainy season [which begins in November] ”, he says.
“Although the situation has improved, it is not yet resolved, and we remain vigilant to explore all possible solutions ”.
Libanda differs from this optimistic view. In a new conversation with this newspaper, on Monday, he explains that pumping water into the pond where some of the hippos are located is not giving the expected results: “If it does not rain or the Government does not increase the volume of water that is currently pumping into the pond, the fear of hippos dying in the coming months will increase ”, he adds.
It is also concerned about the possible outbreak of disease among trapped hippos.
Unpredictable weather patterns
Libanda warns that ”the situation could deteriorate further with unpredictable weather patterns ”. “The first time we faced such a crisis was in 2019, but it is much worse now, in 2024, with more animals in danger ”, he stresses.
Mulife Muyoba, head of control at the Zambezi Wildlife and National Parks agency, notes that during the 2019 crisis, in which some 60 hippos were trapped, the government implemented a similar strategy that included drilling wells and installing water pumps.
“So there were no fatalities, and this year we have only recorded one death ”, Muyoba states in an interview.
“However, the most important thing is to understand the behavior of wildlife in these conditions. Scientifically, these animals instinctively move to other areas within a 20 kilometer radius when their habitats dry up, but that has not happened ”.
At the height of the 2019 crisis, Namibia authorized the sale of more than 1 000 wild animals, including elephants and giraffes, to avoid further loss of life and raise $ 1.1 million for conservation. The decision was made after the declaration of national catastrophe due to the extreme drought conditions that affected wildlife and conservation efforts.
Five years later, the drought again seriously affects conservation initiatives across the country.
Animal sacrifice
One of the solutions proposed by Libanda is to deepen some of the empty ponds and fill them with enough water to create a sustainable habitat for animals.
It also suggests the most extreme solution to slaughter animals and target meat for current aid programs for those affected by drought or allow meat to be sold to generate funds.
Precisely, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Tourism announced on Monday that more than 723 animals —83 elephants, 30 hippos, 60 buffalo, 50 impalas, 100 wildebeests, 300 zebras and 100 eland antelopes — have been selected for slaughter, which will come from national parks with populations of more than 150 of these animals have already been hunted and have provided 56,875 kilos of meat.
“This will help manage the current pressure on pastures and water, reducing the number of wild animals in some parks where we believe the number exceeds available pastures and water ”, the statement said.
“This exercise is necessary and in line with our constitutional mandate that our natural resources be used for the benefit of Namibian citizens. (…) We are happy to be able to help the country in these difficult times and when it is absolutely necessary ”, he adds.
However, this suggestion raises cultural problems. Raphael Mbala, historian and writer belonging to the Masubian tribe, expresses the discomfort of his community at the possible sacrifice of hippos. “When a community sacrificed a hippopotamus, it knew that certain parts —such as belly, face, back, and fat — were reserved exclusively for the king or boss ”, he explains.
“Violations of these customs were historically punishable by fines, which were often paid for with livestock ”, he adds, also noting that other animals, such as giraffes, antelopes, and elephants, are equally protected by traditional authorities.
This article was first published in El PAIS in collaboration with Egab, a platform that works with journalists from the Middle East and Africa.
