https://www.cbsnews.com/news/botswana-germany-20000-elephants-trophy-hunting-row/Johannesburg — Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to send 20,000 African elephants to "roam free" in Germany in a public dispute between the nations over hunting and conservation, according to the German newspaper Bild.
Masisi's comments came in response to Germany's government saying earlier this year that it wants to restrict hunters from importing hunting trophies from Africa into Germany.
Botswana is home to roughly one-third of the world's elephant population. Germany is among the largest importers of hunting trophies in Europe, with German hunters representing a significant amount of the income used to fund sustainable conservation in many African nations.
Masisi said elephant numbers in his country had exploded as a result of conservation efforts to protect the animals, and that trophy hunting was one of the tools his country used to bring in much needed revenue while keeping elephant populations in check.
Germans should "live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to," Masisi told Bild, adding: "This is not a joke."
