The president of Botswana, Mokgwitis Masisi, has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany due to a disagreement regarding animal protection. Germany’s environment minister had earlier proposed stricter restrictions on the import of hunting trophies. The BBC reports that.
The president of Botswana told the German media that the people of the country will become poorer due to these restrictions. He said that due to animal protection efforts, the number of elephants increased greatly, and their hunting allowed to control this increase.
Currently, 130,000 elephants live in the wild in Botswana, one third of the world’s elephant population. The animals cause problems for Botswana’s agriculture as they destroy crops and trample many residents.
Botswana has already handed over 8,000 elephants to neighboring Angola and offered the same number to Mozambique to reduce their population.
“We would like to present such a gift to Germany,” Masisi stated, adding that it is not a joke and that he will not take “no” for an answer.
He told German publication Bild that Germans should live with animals “as you are trying to teach us”.
Germany is the largest importer of elephant hunting trophies and hunting trophies in general in the European Union. Australia, France and Belgium are among the countries that have banned the trade in hunting trophies.
Botswana, like other African countries, organizes an international auction of elephant hunting licenses every year. The number of elephant hunting permits reaches several hundred. The price of each of them is about 40 thousand dollars.
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