Trophy Hunt Will Kill Tourism in Botswana: Experts – Xinhua

GABORONE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) – Botswana's environmental experts said Saturday at a mini-conference on elephant protection that the reintroduction of trophy hunting would kill its tourism sector, which Botswana is benefiting from. .

In 2014, former Botswana President Seretse Khama, Ian Khama, banned wildlife hunting to combat poaching. Four years later, in the middle of 2018, Botswana's president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, set up a cabinet sub-committee to ban the hunt to discuss the embargo.

According to the Botswana constitution, a president is elected for two five-year terms and gives power to his deputy one year before the end of his term. Masisi badumed leadership of the country just over 18 months before the national elections scheduled for October 2019.

Facing the October elections, Masisi must weigh the pros and cons between lifting the ban on hunting to win votes and the impact that this could have on Botswana's international reputation.

Last week, Masisi received a hunting report from the sub-committee on the prohibition to hunt, which recommended lifting the ban on hunting, developing a legal framework for the hunting industry, managing the elephant population in its historical range and place fences reserved for humans and wildlife.

"The trophy hunt will obviously reduce Botswana's potential to increase the number of tourists," said Morris Moalosi, an independent ecologist, adding that many tourists were attracted by "our flora and fauna, especially in the northwestern part of the country. country".

"There will be an outcry in the world as soon as Botswana has stopped issuing hunting licenses, it will become the most popular tourist destination in Africa, and my concern is that the reintroduction of hunting licenses will upset the situation." said Colin Bell. , a photographic safari operator.

Tourism is Botswana's second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after diamond mining. It has 130,000 elephants, the largest population of African elephants, many of which are shared with Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, and Zambia.