Tanzania opens auction for hunting of old wildlife

Tanzania is allocating wildlife hunting blocks through auction in a bid to raise more revenue. Tourism Minister Damas Ndumbaro said successful hunters would be allowed to kill aged elephants, lions and other big game considered unproductive.

The East African country is aiming to raise $30m (£23) from the auction.

About 25% of the proceeds will be spent in helping communities living near the hunting blocks.

The rest will be used on anti-poaching programs, game patrols, transportation, surveillance and prosecution of offenders, the BBC reports.

Revenue from wildlife dropped from $48m (£36m) in 2019 to $19m (£14m) last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tanzania is Africa’s leading country for big game hunting in unfenced areas.

It has approximately half of the world’s wild lions population and the third largest elephant population in Africa.

According to a 2019 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report, 72% of big hunting zones in Tanzania are now classified as depleted because big game had been hunted out of these areas.