Botswana will auction licences on Friday to hunt a total of 70
elephants in seven districts, the first such hunting to take place since
President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted a five-year ban on big game hunting
last May.
Africa’s overall elephant population is
declining due to poaching but Botswana, home to almost a third of the
continent’s elephants, has seen numbers grow to 130,000 from 80,000 in
the late 1990s.
Botswanan officials say hunting is
necessary to ease conflict between animals and humans, especially
farmers who have seen their crops and infrastructure destroyed by
elephants roaming outside their feeding zones.
A
spokeswoman for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife said the
licences would be for controlled hunting areas and that the auction was
open only to companies registered in Botswana.
“There
are seven hunting packages, of 10 elephants each, available. The seven
areas chosen are those most impacted by human-wildlife conflict,
especially involving elephants,” Alice Mmolawa told Reuters.
Bidders are expected to pay a refundable deposit of 200,000 pula ($18,000) each, according to the auctioneers.
Officials said on Tuesday three bidders had registered to
participate in the auction, and that discussions were underway to
consider whether a bidder could buy more than one licence.
Botswana
and its neighbours Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa have in
the last few years reconsidered conservation laws to try and balance the
need to protect sought-after species such as elephants, rhinos and
buffalo from poaching while managing the danger they pose as they
encroach on areas of human habitation.
“Elephants have
killed a lot of people and destroyed livelihoods. I think government is
doing the right thing in reducing their numbers,” said Tiro Segosebe, a
Gaborone resident whose home village of Maun is one of the areas most
affected by the human-wildlife conflict.
Environmentalists
are divided on the best means to manage the conflict, with some fearing
licensed hunting could fuel demand and thus encourage even more illegal
poaching.
The killing of “Cecil the Lion” four years
ago by an American tourist in Zimbabwe sparked international uproar, and
in 2019 Botswana banned two professional hunters who shot dead a
research elephant and then tried to hide the evidence.
“Hunting
elephants may not be a standard tool of sustainable use of natural
resources, or the best method of alleviating the problem of
human-wildlife conflict,” said Neil Fitt, former chief executive of the
Kalahari Conservation Club (KCC).
“But I do not see a problem if the hunting is done in a proper, ethical and above-board manner,” Fitt said.
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