Source: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/opinion/more-confusion-over-the-fate-of-botswanas-elephants/
More confusion over the fate of Botswana’s elephants
President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana categorically denies that his government would ever cull elephants, contradicting the Parliamentary Report proposing culling.
However, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila now proposes elephant “cropping”.
To cull or not to cull
Masisi stated to Bloomberg that “in the debate around elephants and our environmental stewardship, we have been misconstrued and misunderstood. To suggest that the irresponsible and reckless words like culling were ever used. We are never for culling. We will not cull.”
This statement flies in the face of the report produced by his Cabinet Sub Committee on Hunting Ban Social Dialogue that recommended among others lifting the hunting ban, culling of elephants, and the canning of elephant meat as pet food.
The Hunting Ban Social Dialogue report is based on consultation meetings with only some rural communities affected by the 2014 hunting ban, but strangely excludes the tourism industry and its beneficiary communities. Tourism is the second largest GDP earner in Botswana after diamonds, however the industry appears to have been cowed by threats, such as “you must remember where your bread is buttered and support us” made by Mokaila.
Read more here: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/opinion/more-confusion-over-the-fate-of-botswanas-elephants/
More confusion over the fate of Botswana’s elephants
President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana categorically denies that his government would ever cull elephants, contradicting the Parliamentary Report proposing culling.
However, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila now proposes elephant “cropping”.
To cull or not to cull
Masisi stated to Bloomberg that “in the debate around elephants and our environmental stewardship, we have been misconstrued and misunderstood. To suggest that the irresponsible and reckless words like culling were ever used. We are never for culling. We will not cull.”
This statement flies in the face of the report produced by his Cabinet Sub Committee on Hunting Ban Social Dialogue that recommended among others lifting the hunting ban, culling of elephants, and the canning of elephant meat as pet food.
The Hunting Ban Social Dialogue report is based on consultation meetings with only some rural communities affected by the 2014 hunting ban, but strangely excludes the tourism industry and its beneficiary communities. Tourism is the second largest GDP earner in Botswana after diamonds, however the industry appears to have been cowed by threats, such as “you must remember where your bread is buttered and support us” made by Mokaila.
Read more here: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/opinion/more-confusion-over-the-fate-of-botswanas-elephants/
