The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism's Executive Director says poaching of rhinos and elephants in Namibia has decreased significantly over the years.
This year, Teofilus Nghitila says 48 rhinos and eight elephants were poached.
Nghitila says this year's poaching statistics are better compared to 2018, when 84 rhinos and 27 elephants were poached.
He attributed the poaching reduction to the measures they have put in place.
A herd of elephants forcefully destroyed the fence surrounding Zambezi Green Farm located in Sibbinda Constituency, resulting in significant damage to both the infrastructure and the maize crops on Saturday night.
The 30-hectare farm was established in 2017 with the primary objective of enhancing food security, nutrition, and crop production in the Zambezi Region
Since the establishment of the farm five years ago only now that Elephants have entered the farm to destroy crops.
Elephants have started destroying crop fields in the Zambezi Region again, leaving residents with little hope.
The jumbos destroyed crop fields at Wuparo, Balyerwa, Dzoti and Bamunu in the Judea Lyabboloma, Linyanti and Sibbinda Constituencies.
Lirata Maezi and his family have been waking up to a herd of elephants feasting on their crops since last week.
Maezi says despite putting up fire around the crops field and beating drums to scare them away, nothing seems to be working.
The villagers of Ghude in the Kavango East Region are surviving on wild fruits after elephants destroyed their crop fields during the 2021 harvesting season.
The villagers turned to wild fruits and have been walking long distances to nearby villages to work in crop fields in exchange for five cups of mahangu as compensation.
The villagers still battle with the elephant for wild fruits.
Ntelamo Batubaja, a self-subsistence small-scale farmer in Kambe, Zambezi Region, says elephants have continued to cause losses in his vegetable garden since 2020.
Batubaja says Thursday night while they were asleep, a herd of elephants destroyed his cabbages, chilli, bananas, and sweet potatoes, amongst others.
Attempts to scare them away did not work.
