Botswana is in South Africa, more than 8,400 kilometers in a straight line from Berlin; But neither this distance nor the misleading nature of the idea stopped the President of the African Republic, Mokgweetsi EK Masisi, from presenting a surprising proposal to the German Government. . : Shipment of 20,000 elephants, neither more nor less. Tens of thousands of huge pachyderms would cross the Mediterranean to pass freely through the Brandenburg Gate, the Tiergarten gardens, or any other area the ruler led by Olaf Scholz wanted to possess.

The most curious thing is that Masisi’s imaginary idea is neither a friendly offer, nor a gift, nor friendly assistance. It makes it seem more like a threat.

Farewell, hunting trophies. To understand the proposal recently launched by Botswana President Mokwgweetsie Masisi, we need to go back to the beginning of 2024, when the German Environment Ministry put an idea on the table that was not very popular at the time. African Republic. : Restrict imports of hunting products of protected species.

Masisi fears that such a measure, if continued, would impoverish his citizens. Big game hunting is a very lucrative business, and Botswana, home to approximately 130,000 elephants, has allowed it with a quota system since 2019. As if this were not enough, Germany is an important market for this type of tourism. In fact, it is considered one of the largest importers of trophies in the EU.

Do you want elephants? get 20,000. It’s such a thing that this was Masisi’s response to German officials. With the federal government facing the prospect of dealing a serious blow to Botswana’s big game hunting and trophy importing business, the African leader threatened Germany to send him 20,000 elephants. Despite the context and strange nature of the offer, Masisi insisted he was completely serious. “The Germans must live with animals as they tell us. I’m not kidding,” he emphasized Picture.

Keyword: overpopulation. Masisi goes further and assures that his country faces a serious problem of “overpopulation”. To be more precise, he estimates that around 130,000 people live in the country, leading him to offer Angola and Mozambique 8,000 and 500 respectively. Masisi said, “We want to offer such a gift to Germany,” and continued: “I will not accept no.”

In the past, Botswana officials estimated that elephant numbers had nearly doubled in less than two decades between 1996 and 2014, thanks to a crackdown on poaching. Not easy. Masisi assures us that these large herds of mammals are causing destruction, devouring crops and injuring local people.

conservation law. Masisi thinks his country “pays the price to protect these animals for the world” and warns that decisions made in Germany could directly affect them. The African leader, who insists on inviting residents of any German city to live with animals “as they want us to”, says ironically that “it is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our issues in Botswana.”

The African Republic banned trophy hunting in 2014 but lifted the restrictions just five years later, in 2019, due to pressure from local communities. Washington Post He cites a report published in 2017 in which it warned that the veto directly harms the population, reducing their income, employment and even benefits.

But… What kind of job does it create? Million dollar question. Biologist Amy Dickman from Oxford University explains: Washington Post He said Botswana allows permits for “a few hundred specimens per year” so hunting would affect a small proportion of the animals. And in an organized way. Big game trophies are also subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Germany’s own Federal Agency for Nature Conservation states that “only” 26 African elephant trophies were allowed in last year.

While these figures are clear, some important questions remain: How much income is generated from big game hunting? Do they return to the local population or does most of the money go to tour operators? Should hunting be used as a way to control wildlife? In this case, how can a balance be struck between protecting tens of thousands of elephants and protecting local people? Are there other ways to focus your management on the benefit of local people, such as “photo tourism”, the alternative suggested by Peta?

Not the first offer. This isn’t the first time Botswana has dodged the prospect of sending thousands of elephants to Europe. He had done so recently, in March, when the Wildlife Secretary threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London’s Hyde Park so that residents of the British capital could see what it was like to live with these large animals. He later explained that the offer was pure “rhetoric”. The background then was the same as now: the debate on vetoing the import of hunting trophies, or at least tightening the guidelines, is an issue on the table in the United Kingdom, Belgium or the United States.

To Masisi’s discomfort, Germany’s Environment Ministry in February targeted a ban on imports of hunting products of protected species. The possibility of reducing them and vetoing them entirely “in individual cases” is on the table to improve animal protection.

Image | Chris Stenger (Unsplash)

in Xataka | We already know the answer to the question of who domesticated elephants: themselves