Botswana, home to Africa's largest herd of 130,000, has lifted a ban on elephant hunting, which was imposed in 2014, citing the challenges faced by small-scale farmers by a growing elephant population. President Masisi faced a backlash from Western celebrities and animal lovers who condemned lifting the hunting ban. Because the hunting ban has been suspended, Botswana, which depends heavily on wildlife-based tourism, is faced with the threat of a tourism boycott. Masisi dismissed criticism which ignores the plight of Botswana's villagers.
"They feel that they are pets, yes, they are also our pets, but they are pets that we like to admire from afar. The problem is they want to admire the pets when they are assured of their own protection, when they are here for a short while and then admire them from afar via television," he said.
The idea is that allowing hunting will reduce risk to humans, essentially by reducing the population of elephants. In the midst of a long-running drought, farmers are selling or slaughtering cows to preserve limited water reserves, reducing the total cattle population from 2.5 million in 2011 to 1.7 million in 2015. But thirsty wildlife herds continue to wander into areas inhabited by people. In recent years, increasing competition for resources between livestock and wildlife has led to more human-elephant interactions across Botswana.
But Cyril Taolo, the deputy director of the department of national parks and wildlife, explained that population control wouldn't work. He said as elephants move into areas where people are not accustomed to dealing with them, they pose great danger.
"This is one of the reasons why we have seen an escalation in human-elephant conflict...."
In June, Balisi Sebudubudu, 38, was sent to fetch a cow but en route Sebudubudu was mauled by an elephant.
David Sebudubudu, Balisi's uncle said, "You can't compare the life of a human being with that of an elephant."
As Botswana heads into hotter, even drier months of the El Nino-induced drought, the country's wildlife could trudge through more habitats in search for water, increasing the risk of conflict.
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