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Zimbabwe’s plans sacrifice 200 elephants To feed communities suffering from acute hunger after the worst drought in four decades, wildlife authorities said on Tuesday.

El Niño-induced drought has devastated crops in southern Africa, causing damage 68 million people and causing food shortages throughout the region.

“We can confirm that we are planning to cull around 200 elephants across the country. We are working on how we will do that,” Tinashe Farawo, a spokeswoman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks), told Reuters.

He said the elephant meat would be distributed to drought-hit communities in Zimbabwe.

The slaughter, the first to be carried out in the country since 1988, will take place in the districts of Hwange, Mbire, Tsholotsho and Chiredzi. The cull follows a decision last month by neighbouring Namibia to slaughter 83 elephants and distribute the meat to drought-stricken people.

More than 200,000 elephants are estimated to live in the reserve, which spans five southern African countries (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Namibia), making the region home to one of the largest elephant populations in the world.

Farawo said the cull was also part of the country’s efforts to relieve pressure on parks, which can only accommodate 55,000 elephants. Zimbabwe is home to more than 84,000 elephants.

“This is an attempt to relieve pressure on the parks in the face of drought. The numbers are just a drop in the ocean because we are talking about 200 elephants and there are over 84,000 of us, which is a lot,” he said.