Why Botswana threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany?

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to end 20,000 elephants to Germany. It sounds like the declaration of a medieval war, but the reality is a bit complex.

Botswana has an elephant problem. They have too many of them, roughly 1.3 lakh. So, when Germany proposed stricter curbs on the import of trophies from hunting animals, it became a major concern for the African nation.

Trophy hunting not only helps limit the number of elephants but supports the country's economy. Some hunters pay as much as $50,000 for each elephant killed.

This is why President Masisi said Germany's move would impoverish people in his country.

Notably, the Botswana government had imposed a ban on trophy hunting in 2014 owing to a rise in poaching incidents. It even announced a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy targeting suspected poachers. But the ban was lifted in 2019 as the elephant population grew exponentially and there was a rise in human-animal conflicts.

On multiple occasions, Botswana has donated elephants to neighbouring countries in a bid to contain its elephant problem.

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