Berlin. Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to send about 20,000 elephants to Germany. He said its conservation efforts and suggestions to limit the import of symbols of hunted animals could have an impact on Botswanans. The threat comes after Germany’s environment ministry earlier this year raised the possibility of imposing strict limits on the import of hunting gear due to concerns about poaching. However, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi told German newspaper Bild that this would only make Botswanans poorer.
According to Botswana’s President Masi, conservation efforts have led to an increase in elephant populations and hunting is an important way to keep them under control. The President of Botswana also described how these elephants have wreaked havoc in his country by damaging property, eating crops and trampling people. ‘It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana,’ Masi said. We are paying the price of preserving these animals for the world.
He said that the Germans should ‘live together with the elephants, which is the way you are trying to tell us.’ This is not a joke. Notably, the southern African country of Botswana banned trophy hunting of elephants in 2014, but lifted the ban in 2019 under pressure from local communities. Botswana is home to more than 130,000 elephants, one of the largest populations in the world, and it has more than enough room for it.
Botswana has previously sent 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique. Last month, Botswana also threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London. Berlin is the largest importer of African elephant trophies and hunting trophies overall in the European Union. At present the European Union is planning strict sanctions on this.
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Tag: Berlin, elephants, Germany, terror of elephants
first published : April 3, 2024, 11:25 PM IST
