Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has issued a stern warning, suggesting the possibility of sending 20,000 elephants to Germany amidst a disagreement over the importation of hunting trophies.
“This is not a jest, twenty thousand elephants to Germany,” Masisi conveyed to the German tabloid Bild.
The African leader criticized the German government, particularly its environment ministry, for considering a ban on trophy imports despite Botswana’s perceived “overpopulation” of elephants.
Earlier, Germany’s environment ministry, led by Steffi Lemke of the Green party, had proposed stricter limits on trophy imports due to concerns about poaching.
Masisi expressed that Germany’s Green party should learn to coexist with elephants without resorting to hunting them down.
“It’s quite convenient to sit in Berlin and opine on our Botswana affairs. We’re bearing the burden of preserving these animals for the world – including Lemke’s party,” Masisi remarked.
He urged Germans to try living alongside animals, as they advocate, citing Botswana’s elephant population soaring to approximately 130,000.
To address the elephant “overpopulation,” Botswana has already offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and 500 to Mozambique, although Mozambique has yet to receive them.
“We’d like to extend such a gesture to Germany,” Masisi asserted, insisting he won’t accept refusal.
Masisi argued that conservation efforts have led to an elephant population explosion, and hunting is crucial to manage their numbers.
He highlighted instances of elephants causing harm to people, crops, and villages, emphasizing that a trophy import ban would only exacerbate Botswana’s poverty.
Masisi claimed Botswana surpasses all other nations in wildlife protection and invited the German minister to witness it firsthand.
Botswana banned trophy hunting in 2014 to aid declining elephant numbers due to poaching and habitat loss. However, the ban was lifted in 2019, and Botswana now issues annual hunting quotas.
According to a German foreign ministry spokesperson, Botswana hasn’t formally raised concerns about this issue with Germany.
German environment ministry spokeswoman Iris Throm stated they’re in dialogue with African countries, including Botswana, affected by import regulations.
Germany is a significant importer of hunting trophies in the EU, with current rules requiring import authorization for African trophies.
Mary Rice, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, dismissed Masisi’s threat as empty, stressing broader issues within the trophy hunting industry.
Masisi’s remarks followed his warning against a UK parliamentary debate on a hunting trophy import ban, which he likened to colonialism.
He refuted claims that trophy hunting endangers elephant populations, citing compliance with CITES quotas.
Masisi denounced a potential UK ban as patronizing, defending Botswana’s rural communities’ conservation efforts.
