Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in trophy hunting spat
Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, in the latest spat over trophy hunting.
"20,000 wild elephants for Germany. This is not a joke," Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi told German newspaper Bild.
His offer comes as the German Green Party want to ban the import of trophies - the bodies of animals which are shot and killed by trophy hunters - as they say this promotes poverty and poaching.
But the African president says German's Environment Minister Steffi Lenke, who is spearheading the campaign, should know what its like to live with elephants without hunting them.
"If you like them so much, then please accept this gift from us. You should live together with the animals as you are trying to tell us to do," Mr Masisi said to Bild.
He said: "I would like Mrs Lemke, whom I deeply respect, to take the time to consider the facts and the science.
"It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion on our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world - and even for Lemke's party."
He claims Botswana is overrun with elephants and hunting is used as a form of population control.
The president told the German daily paper that people in his country are trampled to death by elephants, and harvests and villages are destroyed.
Botswana has the largest elephant population on the continent with numbers exceeding 100,000.
This is due to tight protection and civil unrest in neighbouring countries as well as Botswana having a constant water source.
It is tricky to access the area elephants roam in Botswana, coupled with the military threat to poachers, has allowed the elephant population in Botswana to grow.
While transporting 20,000 of one of the world's biggest mammals may seem an impossible task, there are examples of similar donations.
Botswana agreed to hand over 8,000 elephants to Angola last year.
Namibia's government transported around 150 wild animals to Cuba by plane in 2013 and flew 22 wild elephants to the United Arab Emirates in 2022.
However, the temperatures in Cuba and the UAE are more similar to Botswana's semi-arid climate, Germany may be a little chilly for the elephants.
"We want our elephants to roam free. The German weather is bad enough for them," said Mr Masisi.
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