Botswana's President Mokgvitsi Masisi has threatened to move up to 20.000 elephants to Germany, unhappy that Berlin is criticizing the elephant hunting and export of trophies that his country, he says, is practicing to regulate the numbers of the animals.
Masisi told the German newspaper Bild that he was not kidding that he wanted to relocate 20.000 elephants.
"We would like to give this gift to Germany," Masisi said, adding that he "will not accept any rejection."
Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is home to the world's largest population of elephants, about 130.000, with whom cohabitation is often difficult, the president said, citing attacks on people, villages and crops.
Criticism from the environmentalist-led German environment ministry concerns elephant hunting trophies for wealthy Western clients.
Earlier this year, the ministry indicated the possibility of stricter restrictions on the import of these trophies due to the problem of poaching.
"Within the European Union, we are conducting discussions with the aim of extending the request for import permits to other hunting trophies of protected animals," an unnamed German ministry spokeswoman told AFP.
As Germany is one of the largest importers of hunting trophies in the EU, it has a "special responsibility" in this regard, the spokeswoman added.
Regarding the "gift" envisaged by President Masisi, the German ministry stated that "Botswana has not yet made contact" on the subject.
In 2019, Botswana lifted a total ban on hunting, introduced five years earlier to reverse the decline in the population of elephants and other species. This caused the dissatisfaction of environmentalists.
Commercial hunting is also an important source of local income.
Since then, Botswana decides every year on the quota of animals that can be hunted. Last year, the country also offered 8.000 elephants to Angola and 500 to Mozambique in 2022.
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