UPDATE 1-Botswana auctions permits to hunt elephants to ease human-wildlife conflict

Botswana auctioned six licenses on Friday to hunt a total of 60 elephants, the first to be allowed in the southern African country since President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted a five-year ban on big game hunting last May.

Africa's overall elephant population is declining due to poaching but Botswana, home to almost a third of the continent's elephants, has seen numbers grow to 130,000 from 80,000 in the late 1990s. Botswanan officials say hunting is necessary to ease the conflict between animals and humans, especially farmers who have seen their crops and infrastructure destroyed by elephants roaming outside their feeding zones.

"Seven hunting packages, of 10 elephants each, were available for auction. Only one (package) was not sold as no bidders met the reserve price of 2 million pula ($181,000)," said Adrian Rass, managing director of Auctions Botswana. "The six (packages) were sold for a total price of 25.7 million pula."

Botswana and its neighbors Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa have in the last few years reconsidered conservation laws to try and balance the need to protect sought-after species such as elephants, rhinos and buffalo from poaching while managing the danger they pose as they encroach on areas of human habitation. "Elephants have killed a lot of people and destroyed livelihoods. I think the government is doing the right thing in reducing their numbers," said Tiro Segosebe, a Gaborone resident whose home village of Maun is one of the areas most affected by the human-wildlife conflict.

Environmentalists are divided on the best means to manage the conflict, with some fearing licensed hunting could fuel demand and thus encourage even more illegal poaching. The killing of "Cecil the Lion" four years ago by an American tourist in Zimbabwe sparked an international uproar, and in 2019 Botswana banned two professional hunters who shot dead a research elephant and then tried to hide the evidence.

"Hunting elephants may not be a standard tool of sustainable use of natural resources or the best method of alleviating the problem of human-wildlife conflict," said Neil Fitt, former chief executive of the Kalahari Conservation Club (KCC). "But I do not see a problem if the hunting is done in a proper, ethical and above-board manner," Fitt said.

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