Botswana Threatened to Send 20,000 Elephants to Germany Amid Trophy Hunting Dispute

The Botswana government criticized Germany over remarks banning imported trophies from hunting animals and threatened to send 20,000 elephants.

Earlier this year, Germany's environment ministry proposed tighter restrictions regarding the matter.

Poaching Concerns

Earlier this year, Germany's environment ministry, led by Green Party member Steffi Lemke, proposed tighter restrictions on the import of hunting trophies in response to poaching concerns.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi said that conservation efforts have resulted in an increase in the number of elephants and that hunting is a crucial tool for keeping them under control.

Botswana prohibited trophy hunting in 2014 but overturned the prohibition in 2019 due to criticism from local people. The country currently sets annual hunting quotas.

Elephant herds were tramping citizens, consuming crops, and causing property damage.

"It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world," he said.

Botswana, which has the world's largest elephant population, has previously offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique in an effort to combat what Masisi termed "overpopulation.".

In March, officials threatened to transport 10,000 elephants to London.

The African leader said that Germans should "live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to," and threatens to send 20,000 elephants to the country.

Botswana has not expressed any concerns to the German government about this, according to a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry.

German Environment Ministry spokeswoman Iris Throm said the government was still in talks with African countries affected by import limitations, including Botswana.

According to the ministry, Germany is one of the EU's largest importers of hunting trophies, and African hunting trophies are already subject to import authorization under present standards.

According to figures from Germany's Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, 26 hunting trophies from African elephants were imported in 2023, out of a total of roughly 650.

The ministry is in talks with the EU on tighter import restrictions, with an emphasis on expanding the list of protected species, Throm said.

Larger Issue

Mary Rice, executive director of the NGO Environmental Investigation Agency, said that Masisi's vow is a "rather empty threat" that is "unclear what it would achieve if it were remotely possible."

However, Rice believes the spat is related to larger issues around trophy hunting.

"Regardless of whether you are for or against hunting as a conservation tool, the hunting industry - as that is what it is - needs to get its house in order," she said.

In March, United Kingdom MPs voted to endorse a ban on importing hunting trophies, but the measure must go through further vetting before becoming law.

The Conservatives' 2019 general election platform included a commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies.

Botswana and other southern African countries profit from wealthy Westerners who pay thousands of dollars for permission to shoot an animal and then return home with its head or skin as a trophy.

They claim that this money is used to support conservation initiatives and local communities, making them less likely to hunt animals.

Animal rights organizations claim that the practice is cruel and should be prohibited.