Botswana govt plans to continue with elephant hunting on ‘strictly controlled basis’

Botswana recently officially declared the lifting of ban on hunting of elephants and now plans to implement controlled hunting.

Botswana's Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila told a press conference on Thursday afternoon that following an extensive consultation process with all the stakeholders involved, the government has made the decision to lift the ban.

However, Kitso Mokaila opined that hunting would be allowed on a small, strictly controlled basis, with fewer than 400 elephant licenses to be issued annually. The South African country currently boasts the largest African elephant population of some 130,000 in the latest census conducted in 2018.

The announcement by Botswana government comes two months after Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi said his government was considering lifting the ban and was consulting with stakeholders. The minister said the decision to lift the ban was guided by the findings of a cabinet sub-committee on the hunting ban that was set in July 2018 to make consultations in communities that have massive elephant population and other stakeholders, as reported by Xinhua.

He said key amongst the findings from the committee was that the number and high levels of human-elephant conflict and the consequence on livelihoods were increasing alarmingly. "There is a negative impact on the hunting suspension on the livelihoods, particularly for community-based organizations that were previously benefiting from consumptive utilization," Mokaila cited.

Initiated by the former President Seretse Khama Ian Khama, the ban on elephant hunting has been in effect since 2014. Botswana hosted an Elephant Summit early this month in Kasane, northwestern Botswana. The summit was attended by the Head of States of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia, including representatives from Angola, Xinhua noted.

The objective of Elephant Summit was to raise awareness on the status of African elephants in the Southern African region, which is home to 60 percent of the world's elephant population.

Also Read: Ghana seeks Botswana's support for bid to host AfCFTA Secretariat