Botswana auctions permits to hunt elephants to ease human-wildlife conflict

 

FILE PHOTO: A pair of male elephants is seen in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, April 25, 2018. Picture taken April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/

 

GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana auctioned six licences on Friday to hunt a total of 60 elephants, the first to be allowed in the southern African country 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.

 

"Seven hunting packages, of 10 elephants each, were available for auction. Only one (package) was not sold as no bidders met the reserve price of 2 million pula ($181,000)," said Adrian Rass, managing director of Auctionit Botswana.

 

"The six (packages) were sold for a total price of 25.7 million pula."

 

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.

 

(Reporting by Brian Benza; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-08

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To be balanced, elephants should be given permits to kill humans to lessen "human-wildlife" conflict

 

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

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.

In other words the locals are breeding like rabbits, expanding their farming areas into the elephants feeding grounds, then claiming the land as theirs. When in all probability the elephants have been roaming those same areas for generations......

Just now, AhFarangJa said:

When in all probability the elephants have been roaming those same areas for generations......

If only we could train them to eat rabbits

Select some old sick ones and paint large red Xs on their sides so these brave brave hunters don't get the wrong ones.

Very sad but necessary to ensure long term survival.

8 hours ago, Mick501 said:

Select some old sick ones and paint large red Xs on their sides so these brave brave hunters don't get the wrong ones.

You are almost there and I would hope the elephants are preselected for the cull. The big red Cross a bit over the top. 

 

I would be 100% against this if the population had not increased. 

 

Hope the money generated is used in conservation. 

 

Killing your opponents is a time-tested way to end conflict. 

 

You can't argue with success. 

14 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The six (packages) were sold for a total price of 25.7 million pula."

I wish nothing but pain, misery and sorrow upon those who have bought these licences.