Stars’ outrage as Harry’s beloved Botswana bids to lift its ban on elephant hunts
THREATS to lift the ban on trophy-hunters killing elephants in Botswana – Prince Harry’s ‘second home’ – have outraged conservationists and celebrities.
The southern African country is considering scrapping protection for about 230,000 elephants because they damage crops. Conservationists Bill Oddie and Chris Packham have signed an open letter to Botswana’s government, urging it to keep the ban in place. Other signatories include Stephen Fry, Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Since the ban was introduced four years ago, Botswana has become a safe haven for elephants from neighbouring, war-torn Angola and Namibia, where they were used as target
practice by soldiers and their tusks sold.
Now there are fears of an impending conservation disaster.
Mr Oddie warned: ‘Elephants are fast approaching a preextinction phase. They’ve disappeared from much of Africa. You’ve got small, isolated groups separated from one another. That means the species as a whole is more prone to disease, more prone to the growing effects of climate change and so on.’
He added: ‘Trophy-hunting in the one place, Botswana, where they are relatively thriving could spell disaster.’
Absolutely Fabulous actress Ms Lumley branded trophyhunters the ‘lowest of the low’, adding: ‘Weasel words and
‘Shooting animals for fun is just disgusting’
twisted evidence will try to show the benefits of this hateful pastime, but the truth is as plain as can be – killing animals for fun is just disgusting.’
Comedian Mr Gervais said: ‘If trophy-hunting elephants in Botswana is made legal again, we might as well say goodbye to them now. It will be the end for African elephants and all because some rich psychopath enjoys murdering a magnificent animal.’
In 2012 the WWF conservation group in Spain removed King Juan Carlos as its honorary president after pictures emerged of him standing in front of an elephant he killed in Botswana.
In the 1970s, there were more than a million elephants across the continent. But a survey of 18 African countries in 2014 found there were just over 350,000.
Prince Harry is patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana. He first visited the country with his father, Prince Charles, when he was just 13, two months after his mother, Princess Diana, died.
It is also where Prince Harry cemented his relationship with Meghan Markle – whisking her away for romantic trips before their engagement.