Recently, Botswana, an African nation, has been on a spree of "elephant gifting".
In March, Botswana's Minister of Wildlife, Dumezweni Mthimkulu, expressed willingness to send 10,000 elephants to London.
In April, Botswana's President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, openly stated the desire for Germany to accept 20,000 elephants, with no room for refusal.
Prior to this, Botswana had already successfully dispatched 8,500 elephants, with Angola sending 8,000 and Mozambique 500.
Elephants are not endangered species, are they? Why is Africa so generous, sending tens of thousands at once?
Actually, the gifts to Angola and Mozambique were genuine because there were simply too many elephants. However, mentioning sending elephants to England and Germany has a slightly "threatening" undertone because both countries have thoughts about banning the import of hunting trophies, including ivory.
Ivory Hunting for Millions
It's well known that ivory has long been a tightly regulated commodity, with a comprehensive ban on ivory trade in 19 African countries since 2006.
However, there is one legal means of obtaining ivory, and that's through trophy hunting. Botswana, for instance, hosts an annual "legal hunting competition."
Reportedly, this competition comes with a hefty price tag. Lasting 12 days, the ticket for one person costs around $50,000, making it an exclusive event not accessible to everyone.
Typically, hunters apply for slots through international hunting clubs. Once the application is submitted, it undergoes scrutiny by both the applicant's home country and Botswana, where the hunting takes place. Only those approved by both entities are eligible to participate in the hunting competition, and any trophies won during the event can be legally taken back to the hunter's home country.
Username Easter Gentleman has a tusk displayed in his home in Texas, USA, which is a trophy from his participation in the 2022 African hunting competition, completely legal. He has participated in African hunting competitions multiple times.
Every year, Botswana issues hundreds of permits, with ticket fees alone worth tens of millions of dollars.
These hundreds of spots are in high demand, with some clubs bidding to secure them.
Most of these hunters come from the United States, with the irony being that the next most represented countries are England and Germany, both with hunting traditions. Last year, Germany imported 26 African ivory trophies.
Botswana argues that controlled hunting like this can effectively manage elephant populations, the funds acquired can be used to continue elephant conservation efforts, and it also brings tourism revenue to the region, a win-win-win situation.
However, some countries disagree, stating, "All ivory hunting and trade should be stopped; this is the ethical approach and the only way to eradicate elephant poaching."
Masisi stated: "These people are all 'too hypocritical', they 'don't have elephants in their backyard', 'Western countries always want to teach us how to manage natural resources', stopping hunting is impractical."
"The reality is, if you reduce this income, poaching will only get worse. If they don't believe it, I can send tens of thousands of elephants to let them experience the difficulty of raising elephants! Let them see what would happen if they tried to raise elephants according to their ideas!"
Indeed, Botswana has learned its lesson in the past.
In 2014, the region banned trophy hunting, but in 2019, it reopened under pressure from local communities.
According to a report from 2017, local communities suffered severe impacts on income and jobs due to the ban.
In addition, Botswana also stated that the reason we insist on legal hunting is because there are simply too many elephants on our land. As a result, we really sent 8,500 elephants away.
Currently, there are 130,000 elephants in Botswana and a total of 415,000 elephants in the entire African continent, accounting for almost one-third. Their population is growing by approximately 6,000 individuals per year.
Due to strict conservation measures implemented, the elephant population nearly doubled between 1996 and 2014.
With the increasing number of elephants, there is growing pressure on Africa's fragile and drought-prone environment. They are known to consume crops, damage farmers' property, and even trample residents.
Therefore, Botswana sees regulated hunting as a means to manage the elephant population.
In my understanding, the situation in Botswana can be summed up as: too many elephants, too poor to sustain them! To address these issues within manageable bounds and ensure the ongoing protection of elephants, legal hunting seems to be the best approach.
However, many countries internationally oppose the import of hunting trophies and even morally condemn such actions. So, Botswana, feeling aggrieved, has "threatened" to send tens of thousands of elephants to those countries to see if they can manage!
Indeed, colossal creatures like elephants require vast space and food. They consume about 1%-2% of their body weight in food daily, spending around 16 hours a day feeding, and their destructive power is considerable.
Take, for example, the wild elephants in Yunnan Province, China. During a migration last year, they damaged crops, collided with vehicles, demolished houses, and even injured people.
A herd of 15 elephants reportedly caused over 400 accidents in less than 50 days, destroyed around 850 acres of farmland, resulting in losses exceeding over 6 million CNY.
One can only imagine the havoc that so many African elephants would wreak.
There's another crucial issue: many parts of Africa are simply too poor, and existing wildlife conservation projects are generally funded by non-profit organizations, with finances being tight.
The question arises: if sacrificing dozens or hundreds of elephants could bring in more funds and make local residents wealthier, would poaching decrease? Would elephant conservation become more sustainable?
In short, this is how most areas in Africa perceive it, but several Western countries have entirely different perspectives.
Ironically, those who come to Africa for hunting come from Western countries. Quite a contradiction, isn't it?
