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Wednesday 3, April

Botswana’s president threatens to deport 20,000 elephants to Berlin

In Botswana, overpopulation of elephants causes huge property damage every year. As Germany plans harsher restrictions on hunting trophy imports, Botswana's president plans to send large numbers of elephants to Germany to ease the species' numbers.

Photo: IMAGO / SuperStock

Wednesday 3, April

Botswana’s president threatens to deport 20,000 elephants to Berlin

It might sound like a late April Fool’s joke, but President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi is “dead serious” about his plan to send large numbers of elephants to Berlin as a way to deal with the species’ overpopulation. According to reports from Bild, Masisi will “not take no for an answer”.

In the last few months, Germany’s environmental ministry has discussed the possibility of harsher restrictions on importing hunting trophies, in the wake of concerns about poaching. But according to President Masisi, banning hunting trophies would just impoverish Batswana. The leader argues that existing conservation work has already led to an overpopulation of elephants in the region, and that trophy hunting is an important way of keeping the numbers under control.

Botswana banned trophy hunting back in 2014 but lifted the restrictions five years later following pressure from local communities. In the face of overpopulation, herds of elephants have caused huge property damage and even trampled people to death. In an attempt to deal with its elephant population (which is now around 130,000), Botswana has already offered to send 8,000 elephants to Angola, 500 to Mozambique and another 10,000 to the United Kingdom.

President Masisi told Bild: “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 went on to explain that Germans should “live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to”. Germany was once one of the biggest importers of hunting trophies in the EU, but increased restrictions could spell the end of this.