Botswana has authorised the hunting of 23 elephants as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain. Under the decision, taken on Friday, the licences come out of the district quotas for elephant hunting, and several antelope species may be hunted too. The authorities say the meat will be distributed to poor rural communities.
The African savanna elephant is listed as endangered by the IUCN, but Botswana has about 130,000 elephants, more than any other country. It lifted a hunting ban in 2019 as numbers grew and in recent years has allowed between 200 and more than 400 elephants to be hunted each year.
The government argues that controlled hunting is needed to manage numbers and reduce conflict between people and elephants. Across Africa, herds damage farmers' crops and infrastructure and sometimes kill people; Botswana compensates those affected and records hundreds of such incidents a year. Dimakatso Ntshebe, deputy director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, said the benefits of conservation must reach the communities who live alongside wildlife and help protect it.
The Botswana Elephant Protection Society called the move irresponsible, warning that killing one elephant can make a whole herd defensive and aggressive and put local people at greater risk. Ian Khama, president from 2008 to 2018, said it could set a bad expectation of elephant killing at future national celebrations.
The report is from Ittefaq's digital desk.
Photo: Gorgo / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Ittefaq
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