In the state of Botswana, in Africa, it is once again possible to hunt elephants. The president believes it is necessary to reduce the number of individuals, which is the highest on the continent.
"Africa, we are better than this." That is what Paula Kahumbu, chief executive of the organisation WildlifeDirect, tweeted as soon as she heard that the ban on elephant hunting in Botswana is no longer in force. President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who earlier in the month made headlines for gifting three of his compatriots stools made from elephant feet, has decided to overturn the ban introduced in 2014 by his predecessor, which prohibited the killing of elephants outside authorised reserves.
A maximum of 400 licences per year will be issued. The decision is said to stem from the growth in the number of pachyderms in the country, which between 1996 and 2014 rose from 80,000 to 129,000, making it the largest population on the entire continent. This is, of course, actually a very positive figure, given that between 2007 and 2014 their numbers fell by 30 per cent across 15 African nations.
Botswana's Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Conservation added that cases of conflict between the animals and local communities are on the rise. Another motivation behind the lifting of the ban could be financial gain; part of the money paid by hunters is supposed to go towards conservation of the species.
In reality, "the money ends up in the government's pockets and is in no way comparable to that generated by tourism, by the millions and millions of tourists who come to Africa every year without a rifle," explains Andrea Crosta, founder of the Elephant Action League, an organisation that has put intelligence at the service of nature with the aim of combating crimes against the environment.
The hope is that the president of Botswana, in light of the criticism he has received, will take a step back, and that the decision by China and Hong Kong to ban the import and trade of ivory will yield the desired results and reduce the number of elephants killed for their tusks.
