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A ban on the import of hunting trophies from endangered species is being discussed in Europe. African countries don’t enjoy it.
It’s all about this: There is currently a debate in Germany and other European countries about whether it should be forbidden for people to have their trophies from hunting in Africa or elsewhere – i.e. elephant tusks or baboon heads – sent home. This made the President of Botswana so angry that he threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany. Botswana is currently home to the largest elephant population in the world, with around 130,000 animals.
That’s why the anger in Botswana: The government of Botswana emphasizes that the paid and authorized hunting of elephants – up to 400 trophy hunts are approved per year – is an important source of income for the population. Around 50 communities would benefit from hunting with the equivalent of around two million euros per year and would use it to pay school fees, for example. The country’s environment minister also referred to the overpopulation of elephants in the country. Every day in Botswana a person is attacked and sometimes killed by wild animals.
Trophy hunting is an important source of income for the Botswana state.
Important economic branch: “Botswana has no industry, tourism – and especially trophy hunting – is an important source of income for the state,” says Uganda-based journalist Simone Schlindwein, who reports from Africa. The money – a trophy hunt costs up to 50,000 euros per license depending on the animal – would also be used to finance conservation efforts for wild animals. This in turn also creates jobs “in a country that doesn’t have much else,” emphasizes Schlindwein.
That’s why Germany: Animal rights activists have long been calling for import bans on hunting trophies of endangered species to Europe. Germany is by far the largest importer of hunting trophies of internationally protected animal species in the EU. According to preliminary information from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, there were 650 imports last year alone. Of these, 231 were mountain zebras, 109 were bear baboons and 26 were African elephants.
Belgium is leading the way: In Belgium, parliament voted unanimously in January to ban the import of hunting trophies of endangered species into the country. Now there is great concern, not only in Botswana, that other European countries could follow their example. It was only at the end of February that the Namibian Environment Minister wrote a sharp letter to the German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, in which he condemned any import restrictions as “unlawful” and “neo-colonial interference” in internal affairs.