Botswana is threatening to send 20,000 elephants to Germany after a dispute over the import of hunting trophies

Will there soon be 20,000 elephants in Germany? If it were up to Mokgweetsi Masisi, the president of Botswana, it would. He threatened to send thousands of elephants to Germany on Tuesday amid dissatisfaction with Berlin’s plans to ban the import of hunting trophies. “This is not a joke,” he told the German newspaper Image.

According to Masisi, there are about 130,000 elephants in Botswana, a number that causes serious problems. The herds would trample people, destroy crops and destroy entire villages. “It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world,” Masisi said.

The Botswana government is not against hunting because it helps maintain the growing elephant population. She also fears a ban on hunting trophies because it would significantly reduce income from safari hunting and tourism.

“We don’t take no for an answer”

It would not be the first time that the president of Botswana has given away thousands of elephants or threatened to do so. The country previously sent 8,000 elephants to neighboring Angola. When the British House of Commons discussed a ban on hunting trophies last month, the Botswana government threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London’s Hyde Park.

According to the president, Germany would not be a bad destination. “The German weather is bad enough for the elephants,” Masisi said. “We don’t take no for an answer.”