In a devastating decision by the Government of Botswana, they have confirmed this morning that the temporary ban on hunting elephants and other wildlife will be lifted. Only an estimated 135,000 elephants remain on the continent.
Citing the need to “manage” the population of elephants and its “impact” on farmers’ livelihoods, the controversial decision comes after President Mokgweetsi Masisi formed a special committee in June of last year to review and reconsider a hunting ban, which went into effect in January of 2014.
As previously reported by WAN, the committee delivered the findings of the controversial report to Masisi in February of 2019, after it had reportedly consulted with local authorities, affected communities, NGO’s, tourism businesses, conservationists, researchers and other stakeholders.
It was speculated at the time that the report recommended that the hunting ban be lifted to “create growth of the safari hunting industry and manage Botswana’s elephant population within its historic range.”
This is wrong on so many levels!
Tragically, as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the population of elephants across Africa has decreased by an estimated 111,000 to 415,000, largely due to poaching for their ivory. The devastating effects to Africa’s elephants will become even greater now that the ban has been lifted.
As per a post on the The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Facebook page, “it will work with all stakeholders to ensure that re-instatement of hunting is done in an orderly and ethical manner.”
Impossible! There is nothing ethical about hunting and killing species at risk of extinction!
We must unite to urge the government of Botswana to reverse this appalling decision. Contact the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism HERE: (+267) 3971405 or by emailing the Chief Public Relations Officer, Ms Doreen F. Motshegwa at dfmotshegwa@gov.bw
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