Gaborone—

Dozens of residents from communities near Botswana’s wildlife marched on Tuesday against an anti-hunting bill introduced in the UK House of Commons. Botswana is preparing to send a delegation to the UK to lobby against the bill, and protesters have submitted a petition to the British High Commission.

The Hunting Trophies (Prohibition of Importation) Bill, which will have its second reading later this month, seeks to ban the importation of legally obtained wildlife trophies from Africa.

Trophy hunting is the killing of large animals such as elephants, lions and tigers for entertainment. Hunters often retain heads or other parts of animals for display.

Boniso Shamkuni, one of the organizers of the march, said if the measure were passed, it would have a negative impact on the livelihoods of communities that co-exist with wildlife in Botswana. For example, African countries have the largest elephant population in the world, with more than 130,000 animals, and these giant animals often come into conflict with humans.

“We implore your government to carefully consider the implications of enacting the Hunting Trophy (Prohibition of Importation) Bill. Such a decision could have far-reaching negative impacts on wildlife populations, exacerbate human-wildlife conflicts, undermine conservation efforts, and impact livelihoods and The well-being of the communities living in the wildlife sanctuaries,” said Shamukuni.

Shamukunyi said Botswana’s wildlife populations were stable and reimposing a hunting ban could lead to an increase in poaching, as has been seen previously.

Botswana imposed a moratorium on hunting in 2014 under former president Ian Khama. In 2019, his successor Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted the ban.

European countries are currently pushing to ban trophy hunting, arguing it poses a threat to wildlife populations.

Last September, the UK’s House of Lords rejected an anti-hunting bill after easily passing the House of Commons.

Amy Dickman, professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Oxford, said the lobby groups pushing for a hunting ban had misled British parliament.

“They suggest that these bans will help reduce the extinction of wildlife. For example, they say that the bans will harm the livelihoods of communities. All of these things can and should be countered with the strong evidence available. This is a complex topic; this is science-specific. But in reality, trophy hunting does not lead to the extinction of any species you can find, and importantly, it does contribute to local income as well as providing support for major threats such as poaching and habitat loss. funding,” Dickman said.

Botswana’s hunting season runs from April to September, and most international hunters pay up to $50,000 to kill species such as elephants.

They are only allowed to hunt old males so as not to affect the reproduction of the species.

Local conservationist Map Ives called for methods other than hunting.

“I think we should start thinking about wildlife, and certainly natural ecosystems, as something that supports all life on Earth, including humans. I often feel that the phrase “pay the price and stay” is a form of ecological blackmail. In other words That being said, if it doesn’t support humans, it’s going to die,” Ives said.

Currently, Botswana issues about 300 elephant hunting licenses each year.

Botswana communities earned $3 million from last year’s hunting season, which, among other things, was used for conservation programmes.