Pensioner appears before Katima court for gunning down elephant

A 62-year-old pensioner is expected to appear before the Katima Mulilo Magistrate’s Court on Monday after he allegedly transgressed the Nature Conservation Act of 1975, as amended, for hunting of specially protected game without a permit.

It is reported that the pensioner “accidentally put down an elephant from a herd of four elephants” that reportedly entered his crop field on Saturday night at Makwatare cattle post in the Makanga area.

According to the Namibian Police incident report issued on Sunday, the suspect was patrolling his crop field when he came across the four elephants.

“He fired two warning shots in the air but the elephants did not leave. He then fired another shot in the direction where these elephants were, and the bullet struck one of the elephants [and the] elephants moved from the field and went back to the cattle post,” the police say.

“On Sunday morning, the suspect was informed by a cattle herder from the nearby post that there was a dead elephant in his field. That’s when he went and found it there.”

Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism were informed of the incident, prompting an inspection on the carcass, which revealed a visible bullet wound on the left side of the stomach, where the bullet entered from the 30-06 rifle.

The elephant is valued at N$295 000, according to the report.

The pensioner will appear before court, while the docket will be sent for the prosecutor general’s decision. Some items, including the rifle used, will be booked as exhibits, along with the two recovered elephant tusks.

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