To get the number of elephants in Namibia The South African country wanted to sell 170 animals – but only a good third were auctioned off. As the environment ministry announced on Wednesday, 57 of the elephants offered for sale in December have found buyers. The government took the equivalent of a good 340,000 euros.

According to the information, 15 of the elephants sold are privately owned in Namibia. 42 others will leave the country. In Windhoek, the government did not provide any information about the countries to which the elephants were exported.

It is estimated that about 28,000 elephants live in the wild in Namibia. They are currently suffering from drought and are increasingly in conflict with humans in search of food. Elephants are especially dangerous for villagers when they trample their fields and attack people in personal matters.

“Increasing conflicts between humans and animals”

When announcing the auction, the government pointed to, among other things, “increasing clashes between humans and animals”. Before the auction, Namibia was repeatedly criticized for giving elephants to kill.

But the auction also drew “a lot of negative publicity”, as ministry spokesman Romeo Muyunda said to justify the success of the short sale.