2024-04-04 10:41:02
Gaborone: Botswana’s President has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany over a conservation dispute. Earlier this year, Germany’s Environment Ministry suggested that the import of trophies from hunted animals should be banned in the country. Responding sharply to this, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said that this will make people in his country even poorer. Conservation efforts have led to a record increase in elephant numbers in Botswana and hunting has helped keep them under control, he said. A large number of tourists from Germany go to Botswana for elephant hunting. For this they also give huge amount of money to the government of Botswana. In return they are allowed to take the skin, tusks and other things of the hunted elephant back to their country.
What did the President of Botswana say
President Massie told German newspaper Bild, “The German people should live together with animals, that’s not the way you are trying to tell us. This is no joke.” Botswana is home to about a third of the world’s elephant population. According to an estimate, more than 130,000 elephants live in Botswana. The number of elephants in this country is more than the living space. Masi said herds of elephants are damaging property, eating crops and trampling residents in Botswana. Botswana has previously given 8,000 elephants to neighboring Angola, and has offered hundreds more to Mozambique as a means of reducing the population.
Botswana has also threatened Britain
The President of Botswana said that we would like to give such a gift to Germany also. If someone asks us a question on this, we will not answer ‘no’. Botswana’s Wildlife Minister Dumzweni Mthimkhulu last month threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London’s Hyde Park so British people could get a taste of living with them. In March, UK MPs voted to support a ban on the import of hunting trophies, but the legislation needs further scrutiny before it becomes law. A pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies was included in the Conservatives’ 2019 general election manifesto.
Botswana earns money from elephant hunting
Botswana and other southern African countries make a lot of money from rich Westerners who pay thousands of dollars for permission to shoot an animal and then take its head or skin back home as a trophy. He says the money is used to fund conservation efforts and help local people, so they are less likely to be tempted to poach the animals. At the same time, animal rights groups argue that this practice is cruel and should be banned.