Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany for trophy hunting | Abroad

Berlin is concerned about poaching in the southern African country. The import rules are intended to preserve biodiversity and ensure that the import of hunting trophies is sustainable and legal, a ministry spokesperson said.

Germany is one of the largest importers of hunting trophies in the European Union. These are animals that have been shot purely for the purpose of hunting and some of which hunters take with them as a trophy.

Masisi is not happy with the German restrictions, because he believes they are making the Botswana population poorer. The president says elephant numbers have skyrocketed due to conservation efforts. Botswana has the largest elephant population in the world, with at least 130,000 animals. Masisi calls hunting “an important tool” to keep the population under control.

Botswana banned trophy hunting in 2014, but lifted restrictions under pressure from local communities in 2019. The country now has annual hunting quotas.

There has been a fuss about elephants for some time now. For example, Masisi previously called for the animals to be sent across the border. Botswana offered Angola eight thousand elephants and Mozambique five hundred. In March, the country threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London to deal with the huge population.

The Botswana nature management wants residents of other countries to “feel what it is like to live with these animals”, the British newspaper reports. Subway.

Masisi calls the threat “no joke”. “It’s easy to talk about our business from Germany. We pay the price for preserving these animals.” The president told the German newspaper Image that the elephants cause damage, eat crops and trample residents.

The German Environment Ministry says it is talking to African countries affected by the import rules. The ministry is therefore also talking to Botswana.

Discussions about stricter import restrictions within the EU are aimed at expanding the list of protected species.