TARGET BACK ON ELEPHANTS IN BOTSWANA

Botswana will be lifting the suspension for the elephant hunting. It is no stranger to the media and its readers how the hunting of elephant tusks and rhino horns has made the hunters millions.

af ter the announcement, from the Botswana government, “the lifting of the hunting suspension in an orderly and ethical manner”, this decision seemed more inevitable and an enormous blow for the country’s tourism and conservation reputation. A decision had to be finalised on any hunting of elephants.

The Botswana Democratic Party (DMP) had since been in power with a record of 46% of voters supporting the election. Lif ting the ban was based on their hope that Masisi will regain the rural votes that he desperately needed when the election begin

in October.

Botswana is home to a huge population of elephants in the region, and 130 000 living in South Africa. The first ban happened in 2014, when then-President Ian Khana decided to lift the ban on hunting elephants that intruded on local houses. The government has allowed the sports hunters to kill the elephants. The number of elephants on the African continent have seemingly dropped to about 30% between 20072014, calculated by the Great Elephant census.

The government had claimed that the lif ting of the banning on the elephants were due to the fact that the predators were increasing. Masisi believes that the hunting of the elephants would improve the livelihood of the locals. Even though many have criticised the country for such radical decision, the Conservationists reacted with complete rage. South Africa had said that the decision for this impact was due to the fast-increase in number of elephants in the country. “The whole world is turning away from hunting. It is increasingly seen as an archaic practice. This is very, very damaging to the image of Botswana as a global leader in the elephant conservation”, said DR Paula Kahumbu, who is an expert and activist based in Kenya.

This decision led to an outrage on social media.