Botswana holds controversial auction of elephant hunting licences

Botswana, home to the world’s largest elephant population, on Friday held its first major auction for trophy elephant hunting quotas since scrapping a hunting ban last year. The one-hour sale was conducted by a local firm Auction It from the premises of the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism in the capital Gaborone.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi raised the ire of conservationists in May when he revoked a moratorium, just a year after he succeeded Ian Khama, an avid environmentalist, who introduced a blanket ban in 2014 to reverse a decline in the population of wild animals.

Masisi fended off criticism of his government’s decision, saying the move would not threaten the elephant population. Seven hunting licences of 10 elephants each were on offer, and six were sold at the auction, according to an industry source. Prices ranged from 3.6 million to 4.7 million pula ($330,000 - $430,900).

Government said hunting would be “controlled” and confined to areas most impacted by “human wildlife conflict,” a reference to elephants roaming off game parks into communities. The 2020 hunting season is expected to start in April. According to an auction advisory, bidders had to have “demonstrable appropriate elephant hunting experience” and have no previous wildlife criminal convictions. Hunting of collared elephants will be prohibited.

All elephant hunting expeditions will have to be accompanied by a guide and a professional, at all times, according to the auction notice. The auction was barely mentioned in local papers, despite high interest among international news outlets.