Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the accuracy and (b) the implications of the assessment by the Tourism Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe that Zimbabwe's carrying capacity is 55,000 elephants but the country now has a population of 85,000 elephants.

Zimbabwe has the second largest population of elephants in the world and overpopulation of elephants is a result of good conservation practice. We are working with the Government of Zimbabwe on long term solutions to the issue, such as our Green Corridors initiative, and will continue to support wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.