The End of the Botswana Elephant Hunting Ban

By: Jessica Skelly

Botswana is home to over 130,000 elephants, which is about a third of Africa’s remaining elephants.[1] For years, trophy hunters from around the world flocked to Botswana to hunt large elephants, paying tens of thousands of dollars to do it.[2] But, in 2014, the Botswanan government banned trophy hunting with the underlying reasoning that wildlife in Botswana was rapidly declining.[3]  The ban was first put in place by former President Ian Khama to protect the elephants from trophy hunters and ivory poachers.[4] This same former president introduced a controversial “shoot to kill” policy, which was aimed to stop poachers.[5] The ban was deemed “a conservation success story” and stopped the decrease in elephant numbers. The 2014 decision was met with applause by the international welfare community, but many Botswanan locals and those working in the hunting industry greeted the decision with disdain. As a result, in May of 2019, after a five-year suspension, the government of Botswana decided to lift the ban on elephant hunting.[6] Unsurprisingly, the decision has been met with differing reactions: those who are conservationists criticize the lift and are demanding its reversal while those who are locals are relieved, insisting that the elephants were “ruining their livelihoods.”[7]

The decision to lift the ban was made by now-President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who made his decision based on a committee made up of local authorities, affected communities, non-profits, tourism organizations, conservationists, and other stakeholders, to make analyze the policy.[8] According to the committee and the Botswanan government, the ban was lifted in order to combat the high levels of “human-elephant conflict” and the consequent impacts on livelihoods.[9] Ultimately, the lift was done in order to help the communities who are ill-equipped to handle the roaming of the 12,000 pound animals.[10] Recent surveys have shown that as a result of the ban elephants have begun to expand in how far they travel, which has been very destructive because they encroach farmland and villages.[11] President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s decision is popular with the country’s more rural residents, who argue that the animal’s encroachment can destroy a season’s worth of crops in just one night.[12] According to the President and Botswanan government, the lift of the ban will help the issue of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks’ inability to quickly respond to animal control report and ultimately help these local communities.[13] Moreover, apparently, according to those who oppose the restrictions, the hunting ban has allowed Botswana’s elephant population to grow at a rate that is unsustainable and is starving the country of hunting revenue.[14]

However, the latest surveys suggest that the number of elephants is not increasing, and the decision to lift the ban was purely political.[15]  Jason Bell, the Vice President for conservation with the International Fund for Animal Welfare is quoted: “This is a political move and not in the best interests of conservation in Botswana.”[16] Don Pinnock, a conservationist and author of “The Last Elephant,” states that it was a “tragedy” that elephants had become “collateral damage” to the elections.[17] “The party is losing votes rapidly and wants to increase its votes in the rural areas by allowing the hunting of elephants,” he said.[18] Those conservationists in favor of the ban argue that the protects an already vulnerable species, and disbanding it would be unethical.[19] Elephant expert and WildlifeDirect CEO Paula Kahumbu writes, “There’s no such thing as ‘ethical hunting.’ It’s an oxymoron.”[20] According to these conservationists, “Botswana is the last refuge for these elephants, and suddenly that refuge is going to start hunting them.”[21] This ban has even drawn attention from celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, who tweeted, “President Masisi, for every person who wants to kill elephants, there are millions who want them protected. We’re watching.”[22] Moreover, many conservationists fear that the lift of this ban will open the door to renewed efforts to legalize the trade of ivory, which would have a catastrophic effect on elephants across Africa.[23]

It is still unclear whether this change will bring in more tourist revenue and curb the country’s level of elephant-human conflict, or alternatively lead to a decline of tourism for people coming into the country to see elephants without hunting.[24] Notably, while hunting is now legal in Botswana, sport hunters traveling internationally to hunt are unable to bring their trophies home.[25] Bale of National Geographic indicates that this policy may hinder the influx of trophy hunters to Botswana.[26]

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[1] Rachel Bale, Botswana lifts ban on elephant hunting, National Geographic (May 22, 2019), https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/botswana-lifts-ban-on-elephant-hunting/#close.

[2] Krista Mahr, Why Botswana Is Lifting Its Ban On Elephant Trophy Hunting, NPR (Sept. 28, 2019) https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/28/763994654/why-botswana-is-lifting-its-ban-on-elephant-trophy-hunting.

[3] Id.

[4] Meilan Solly, Five Things to Know About Botswana’s Decision to Lift Ban on Hunting Elephants, Smithsonian Magazine (May 24, 2019) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-botswanas-decision-lift-ban-hunting-elephants-180972281/.

[5] Id.

[6] Bale, supra note 1.

[7] Solly, supra note 4.

[8] Id.

[9] Botswana lifts ban on elephant hunting, BBC News (May 22, 2019) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48374880 [hereinafter BBC].

[10] Solly, supra note 4.

[11] BBC, supra note 9.

[12] Solly, supra note 4.

[13] Id.

[14] Kimon de Greef & Megan Specia, Botswana Ends Ban on Elephant Hunting, New York Times (May 23, 2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/world/africa/botswana-elephant-hunting.html.

[15] BBC, supra note 9.

[16] Solly, supra note 4.

[17] de Greef, supra note 14.

[18] Id.

[19] Solly, supra note 4.

[20] Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Id.

[23] Id.

[24] Id.

[25] Id.

[26] Id.