Human-Wildlife Conflict Threatens Botswana and Other Africa Countries

The Botswana government stressed the impact of human-wildlife conflict in the region as some European countries pushed for stricter control on hunting trophies.

Human-Animal Conflict

The president of Botswana has claimed that many Europeans value elephants' lives more than those of the people who live around them, amidst tensions over prospective trophy hunting import bans.

Botswana threatened to send 30,000 elephants to the United Kingdom and Germany after both nations proposed tighter regulations on hunting trophies.

The country's president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, stated that it will help people understand human-wildlife conflict, which is one of the species' principal threats, as well as the experiences of subsistence farmers afflicted by animal crop-raiding.

The African leader said Europeans view elephants as pets, however, they value these animals compared to human life.

"Why don't you for a moment experience living with them? That's why this offer was made to yourselves to have them in Hyde Park," he said.

Masisi's remarks come amid rising tensions between anti-trophy activists in Europe and Africa and those who argue that regulated hunting is beneficial to elephant conservation in some cases: allowing tourists to kill a small number of animals for thousands of dollars can provide livelihoods for locals and prevent habitats from being converted for agriculture.

The UK government has pledged to implement a ban on the import of hunting trophies. A prohibition nearly passed last year but was defeated in the Lords after passing all Commons stages.

While trophy hunting has sparked great outrage among the British public and celebrity campaigners, employing it as part of a larger conservation strategy has been proven to benefit animals and combat poaching.

Europeans Invited To Africa

Masisi stated that Botswana, which has the world's largest elephant population, allows trophy hunting by democratic choice, and that European countries that advise his country on how to manage its elephant population should provide alternatives to hunting.

Human-wildlife conflict is increasing in many parts of Africa, putting some species at risk of extinction. Every year, dozens of humans are said to be killed by elephants across the continent, with hundreds more cases of crop raiding and other types of confrontation.

Siyoka Simasiku is the director of the Ngamiland Council of Nongovernmental Organizations, a conservation alliance, and has taken part in the campaign against proposed wildlife trophy import limits. He stated that authorities in Europe needed to visit southern Africa to learn firsthand how limited elephant hunting benefits Botswana.

"This has been the call of the community - to invite European countries, including the U.K., to come directly to their areas to witness what the benefits from this wildlife have actually provided them, and also to see the damages that are also brought about by wildlife within their areas in terms of crop damage, competition for water holes and loss of lives," he stressed.

Botswana currently awards roughly 300 elephant hunting licenses per year, which generates approximately $3 million in revenue for the country in addition to the other revenues generated by hunters.