Hunting Trophies at heart of Germany-Botswana dispute

Botswana’s President strongly protested against a German plan to restrict imports of hunting trophies from the African country.

Germany raised sustainability and poaching concern for its hunting trophy restrictions.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi responded to the decision saying he would send 20,000 elephants as a gift to Germany, complaining of an over elephant population.

“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 told German Daily Bild.

He argued that hunting was a means to ensure the animal population was in control, and that conservation efforts made Botswana home to the world’s largest elephant population.

With some 130,000 elephants, Botswana had already offered 8000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique.

Botswana had banned hunting trophies in 2014, but backtracked on the decision under pressure from local population complaining that a growing number of elephants were damaging their crops and property.