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Elephant hunts return to Botswana; 158 animals to be killed this year

By Antony Sguazzin, Bloomberg
Published: September 12, 2019, 9:31pm

Botswana is reintroducing elephant hunts and is likely to sell licenses to kill the animals at a discount to its neighbors. That could further inflame the controversy that’s threatening a $2 billion tourism industry after a five-year ban on hunting was lifted.

The government will auction licenses to hunting operators for the right to shoot an elephant but is yet to decide on the minimum price it will set, said Kitso Mokaila, the country’s environment minister. Botswana will allow the killing of 158 elephants in trophy hunts this year.

An additional administrative fee of 20,000 pula ($1,834) for each of 72 elephant hunting licenses designated for foreigners has already been agreed on, according to government documents seen by Bloomberg. In neighboring Zimbabwe, the right to shoot an elephant costs at least $21,000.

Botswana has the world’s largest elephant population, with about 130,000 of the animals roaming free nationwide. A growing number of incidents between farmers and elephants, which at times destroy crops and trample villagers to death, prompted the government to lift a hunting ban on wildlife in May. While hunting won’t meaningfully reduce the size of the population, income from the sport can benefit local communities.

Conservationists worldwide have opposed the plan, warning that tourists may go elsewhere.

“It’s a very reasonable price,” said Dries van Coller, president of the Professional Hunters Association in South Africa. “They would rather proceed with caution, and see how it goes.”

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