Botswanan Elephant Hunting Permits Add Up

Despite what many of The U.K.’s Animal Rights Extremists and neo-colonialists would have you believe, loss of habitat due to human encroachment and illegal poaching are some of the biggest threats wildlife face, NOT scientifically managed sustainable use of natural resources, like ethical and legal hunting.  In fact, hunting is the most effective and efficient way to raise money for private anti-poaching efforts and setting aside wild lands throughout Africa.  

The people of Botswana made a science-based decision to allow the sale of 272 elephant hunting permits for this year, which is less than 0.003% of the entire population of elephants in the country.  Sixty permits were sold for an average of £30,200 per permit and has the potential to raise close to £8.5 million for locally driven conservation and humanitarian efforts led by the Botswanan Wildlife Management.  These officials know more intimately the increasing elephant population puts massive pressure on human-wildlife conflict.  

As someone who has traveled extensively in Africa, studied conservation and eco-tourism at university in Pretoria, South Africa, and who has trained as a professional field guide; I know that no species with such a high monetary value and actively managed has ever gone extinct. The real threat of elephant extinction comes from the elitist U.K policy proposals that would disincentivize U.K. hunters from visiting Africa, and thus rob the Batswanan people and other African wildlife management agencies of crucial hunting dollars.