Warning: *Graphic Content And Images*
Remember how Botswana and Zimbabwe had too many elephants and they decided to kill them to stabilise the population? Well, the horror has begun as a drone shot of a dead elephant has surfaced in Botswana. The great beast lies motionless with it’s severed trunk and the tusks, gone. And this is just the beginning what with the relaxed poaching rules. Many more elephants will meet the same gory faith if we don’t intervene.
Why Was The Elephant Killed?
Good old poaching. It’s well known that these gentle giants are poached at an alarming rate for their ivory tusks. Ivory is used to make many things and fetches a handsome price in return. Thus, the high demand. Moreover, the newly relaxed laws which allow poaching of the animals due to an increase in their population has given the poachers a license to kill. And there is no stopping them.
What’s More?
Botswana had given the following reasons as to why they had lifted the ban on hunting Elephants which had created many differing opinions:
“1) The number and high levels of human-elephant conflict and the consequent impact on livelihoods was increasing.
2) Predators appear to have increased and were causing a lot of damage as they kill livestock in large numbers.
3) There is a negative impact of the hunting suspension on livelihoods, particularly for community-based organisations that were previously benefiting from consumptive utilisation.
4) The lack of capacity within the Department of Wildlife and National Parks leads to long response time to problem animal control reports.
5) The general consensus from those consulted was that the hunting ban should be lifted.”
Some feel it was the right decision while others are horrified at the violence that has ensued. All we can say is the gentle giants have as much a right to life as us and the gory image of this great beast lying dead and dismembered goes viral, let’s hope it helps us urge Botswana to rethink its decision.
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First Published: July 23, 2019 12:22 PM