THE environment ministry’s horse management plan has assisted with the growth of the Namibia’s threatened wild horse population.
Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta at a press conference today said there are currently 86 wild horses in the area near Aus in southern Namibia, compared to 73 last year. The population includes 15 foals, 40 stallions and 31 mares.
“These horses are doing well with the strategies we have put in place through the management plan,” he said.
The plan was launched late last year and serves as a long-term strategy for the management of the horses. The ministry last year said it would zone off sections of the Namib Naukluft Park and Tsau Khaeb National Park into wild horses management areas fenced with a hyena-proof fence.
Since 2012, a pack of spotted hyenas moved into the Garub area in the Namib Naukluft Park and started preying on the wild horses, resulting in their population dropping from 286 to around 70.
The minister commended staff in the environment ministry’s Directorate of Wildlife and Parks Management for prompt action and efficient management of the situation concerning the horses.
“These horses were almost facing a state of extinction but you have worked tirelessly, especially our staff on the ground in the Namib Naukluft Park,” he said.
During an address to staff of the ministry, Shifeta said serious attention would be given to the upgrading of the boundary fence of Etosha National Park, using the ministry’s staff members and volunteers.
“This project will actually be launched on 22 February 2020. More focus will also be given to the maintenance of the Etosha National Park’s tourism roads. We do this to ensure that visitors to our parks visit such parks in comfort and enjoy the wonders that our parks can offer,” he said.
He said the ministry was not interested in putting the Etosha fence maintenance project out on tender anymore, as the ministry has already lost millions.
“We have already purchased the equipment […] this tendering system is just giving money and they don’t even do the job properly,” he said.
According to the ministry’s budget figures, N$35 million was allocated in the 2012/13 financial year for work on the Etosha National Park’s fences, N$40 million in 2013/14 and N$20 million in 2015/16. The ministry allocated N$29 million during the 2016/17 financial year for work on the park’s fences, but this was reduced by half to N$14,5 million that same year, and cut to N$12 million in the 2017/2018 financial year.
The minister also noted the decline in poaching of elephants and rhinos since 2016, when Namibia experienced some of its highest numbers of poaching incidents.
According to the ministry, 101 elephants fell victim to poaching in 2016, while 61 rhinos were illegally killed.
Since then, elephant poaching has been on a steady decline, with 50 elephants poached in 2017, 27 in 2018 and 12 in 2019.
Meanwhile, rhino poaching has been variable, with 61 rhinos poached in 2016, 52 in 2017 and 70 in 2018. Last year saw 45 rhinos killed – the lowest number since 2015.
