Why Has Namibia Suddenly Issued Hunting Permits Again?

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Namibia has come under fire from one of the country’s leading tour operators Koos Verwey for issuing 70 permits to shot Zebra, Gemsbok & Springbok in a conservancy. Koss Verwey says he is struggling to understand not only why the hunting permits have been issued in a conservancy but also in December when many of the females are pregnant. Verwey also lashed out saying keeping meat for human consumption on such a large scale is potentially a huge health risk.

People travelling to Africa on a Namibia safari regularly pay a visit to the Okondjombo conservancy which is why issuing a permit to kill animals in this region makes no sense at all. In a further statement Verwey says that the governments Ministry of Environment and Tourism are making a complete mockery of the conservation legislation allowing people to hunt in a protected area. He was especially worried about who would be carrying out the hunting and if they understood how to kill the animals properly without them struggling and without them running off into the bush injured.

If you are heading to Africa on a Tanzania safari it’s highly unlikely that you will come across the government issuing any sort of hunting permits, especially in conservancies and game reserves which are directly on the tourist trail. Although hunting does still exist in the Selous Game Reserve, it’s out of the way of regular tourists and is simply done for population control. There always seems to be corruption of some form in every African country you travel to but you don’t expect to intervene with your Kenya safari or your trip to South Africa.

Funnily enough when Koos Verwey tried to contact the official involved in issuing the hunting permits at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism they said he was absent and weren’t sure when he would be back in the office.