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Thread: Botswana lifts elephant hunting ban

  1. #1
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    Default Botswana lifts elephant hunting ban

    Botswana condemned for lifting ban on hunting elephants
    Country with Africa’s largest elephant population says its growth is affecting farmers

    Jason Burke, Africa correspondent

    Thu 23 May 2019 07.43 EDT First published on Thu 23 May 2019 04.33 EDT
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    A group of elephants in the Kwedi area of the Okavango delta in Botswana.

    Conservationists have reacted with outrage and concern to a decision by Botswana to lift its ban on elephant hunting.

    The southern African country said the move was justified by an increase in population and its impact on farmers’ livelihoods.

    “The whole world is turning away from hunting. It is increasingly seen as an archaic practice. This is very, very damaging to the image of Botswana as a global leader in elephant conservation,” said Dr Paula Kahumbu, an expert and activist based in Kenya.

    Others called the decision “disappointing”.


    Pro Wildlife
    @prowildlife
    🇧🇼👎 Disappointing decision by #Botswana to lift hunting ban and to lift the suspension for #trophyhunting - this bloody sport is #cruel, outdated, unethical and often undermining #conservation 🦁🐘🐆 #elephants #predator #bigcats #Lions #leopards

    Botswana Government
    @BWGovernment
    MEDIA INVITATION |The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism wishes to inform the public that following extensive consultations with all stakeholders, the Government of Botswana has taken a decision to lift the hunting suspension.

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    The former president Ian Khama, a keen environmentalist, introduced a prohibition on elephant hunting in the southern African country in 2014.

    But lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic party (BDP) have been lobbying to overturn the ban, saying numbers of the animals have become unmanageable in some areas.


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    The current president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, took over from Khama last year and a public review began five months later, with reports suggesting growing political friction between Masisi and his predecessor.

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    The country’s environment ministry said in a statement that a cabinet committee review found that “the number and high levels of human-elephant conflict and the consequent impact on livelihoods was increasing.”.

    “The general consensus from those consulted was that the hunting ban should be lifted,” it added, vowing that hunting would be restarted “in an orderly and ethical manner”.

    Botswana has the largest elephant population in Africa, with more than 135,000 roaming freely in its unfenced parks and wide open spaces.

    Some experts say the number of elephants in the country, renowned as a luxury safari destination, has almost tripled over the last 30 years, and that the population could now be more than 160,000.


    Botswana poaching spree sees 90 elephants killed in two months
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    Farmers struggle to keep elephants out of their fields, where they eat crops and can kill people, making the move to lift the hunting ban a potential vote winner among rural communities in the run-up to elections in October.

    Experts say the move would be counterproductive as hunting elephants makes them fearful and aggressive, exacerbating conflict with local communities.

    There are also widespread concerns among environmentalists that Botswana’s decision is a precursor to a concerted effort to allow ivory to be bought and sold.

    This would be have a “catastrophic effect on elephants across Africa”, Kahumbu said.

    Many of Botswana’s elephants roam across borders into Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    All four countries have called for a global ban on the elephant ivory trade to be relaxed due to the growing number of the animals in some regions.

    “We cannot continue to be spectators while others debate and take decisions about our elephants,” Masisi told a meeting of the countries’ presidents this month in Botswana.

    While elephant numbers have increased in some areas, over the past decade the population of elephants across Africa has fallen by about 111,000 to 415,000, largely due to poaching for ivory, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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    Zimbabwe said this month it had sold nearly 100 elephants to China and Dubai for a total price of $2.7m over six years, due to overpopulation.

    According to Zimbabwe’s ministry of information, it is almost 13 years since the country’s last commercial sale of ivory. “Our ivory stockpile is worth over $300m [£235m], which we can’t sell because countries without elephants are telling those with them what to do with their animals,” Nick Mangwana, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said.

    Zimbabwe will also make a separate appeal at the conference for permission to sell some of its elephants, as conflict between people and wildlife escalates.

    The country has a booming elephant population, which is increasingly coming into contact with people. About 200 people have died from elephant attacks in the past five years.

    Botswana last year rejected claims by a leading conservation charity that there had been a surge in elephant poaching.

    The African elephant, lion and hippo appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) “red list” of animals at risk of extinction, and needing greater protection.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ting-elephants

  2. #2
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    I hunted the Okavango before it closed. The most beautiful place I've ever visited. This is the right move.
    Carolina Counsel

  3. #3
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    I don’t get why the anti hunters get mad about elephants.

    Don’t the traditionally target the old bulls?

    Don’t older bulls basically die of starvation the last part of their life due to molar loss?

    If they are gonna die why not shoot them?
    Seems more humane than letting them starve to death.
    Yup, he's crazy...


    like a fox. The dude may be coming in a little too hard and crazy but 90% of everything he says is correct.

    Sort of like Toof. But way smarter.
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  4. #4
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    ^ Because they are as smart as any other non human critter out there, protect there young to the death and in general have a very tight family unit. That said , wack em, elephant steaks are deeeelishiouso .

    Definitely the right move and will save far more than the hunting will ever kill. The poachers work em over pretty good in those parts.

    Side note : A good buddies concession, whom I did the animal inventory for, was from Botswana. He pulled out a scrap book at the lodge and showed me pictures of robust green yards, white picket fences, folks dressed nice and tight, every one of all cultures and races were smiling and happy in every picture, much akin to the way of the 50s here more or less. Things just looked pure beautiful until about 2/3 of the way through. Then the book was full of what looked like a landfill, trees knocked over, houses in disrepair and far far worse.
    Last edited by Strick9; 05-23-2019 at 04:52 PM.
    Genesis 9;2

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