Under the guise of international development, the federal government is spending millions to promote the killing of elephants and other wild animals in Zimbabwe. The supposed beneficiaries of this slaughter, the rural villagers living near national parks that contain the animals, are getting little for the U.S. expenditure
This is a terribly misguided attempt to help poor people. It should be stopped.The U.S. Agency for International Development pledged $28-million to Zimbabwe in 1989 to be spent over 10 years to aid people in the rural areas near national parks. The Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources, or CAMPFIRE, sells wild animals in these areas to trophy hunters for the benefit of rural people. Elephants are the main target. But the killing also includes lions, leopards, baboons, zebras and hippos.
More than $7 million has been spent in this grim project. The Humane Society of the United States says $1 from the United States earns 50 cents in income through CAMPFIRE. And by the time that 50 cents filters through numerous bureaucracies, the villagers are left with about 5 cents per household.
Wanting to help poor people is a noble aim. But how many U.S. citizens realize aid is extended through a program that slaughters wildlife, handing the intended recipients only a few cents? Congress should cancel the remaining $20 million in this program and stop the waste of taxpayer dollars and animal life.