Dismay after Botswana ends elephant hunting ban

INTERNATIONAL efforts to stop the illegal ivory trade are likely to suffer after Botswana lifted its ban on elephant hunting, say conservationists.

The southern African country, which is home to the continent’s largest population of elephants, said yesterday it would resume hunting in “an orderly and ethical manner” following a review of its conservation policy.

Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, minister of environment, said the aim was to “manage” rather than reduce elephant numbers and that hunting would be restricted by “scientifically arrived at quotas” of no more than a few hundred per year.

“Botswana has never advocated mass slaughter and that will never happen in our country,” he said.

Mr Mokaila said the four-year blanket suspension on elephant hunting had led to an increase in human-elephant conflict and adversely affected rural communities.

But conservationists warned that the decision could dramatically set back efforts to save the elephant and called on the government to think again.

Dan Bucknell, the executive director of Tusk, the Duke of Cambridge’s conservation charity, called the move “sad and disappointing”.

“Efforts to stop the illegal ivory trade will certainly suffer. We fully understand that human-elephant conflict is a very real and growing problem for rural communities across much of Africa, but there are many effective approaches that can be taken to protect people and their livelihoods,” he said.

Botswana is home to about 130,000 elephants and has long been hailed as a safe refuge for the species amid an Africa-wide poaching crisis.