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Well, if you are reading this, apparently we all survived the eclipsolypse and the world is still turning. Accordingly, we turn to one of our most discussed topics: A few years back, Botswana bowed to pressure from pro-wildlife (read: anti-hunting ) zealots who claimed the wildlife was disappearing and something must be done. Naturally, having a typical government, the folks who passed the laws didn’t talk to villagers or hunters who actually had experience on the subject, and banned all trophy hunting.\u00a0 A few quotes on the subject:<\/p>\n The ban on trophy hunting had an adverse impact as highlighted by various data sources. We therefore set out in 2018 to study the impact of the ban of trophy hunting on local communities.<\/p>\n Participants said they\u2019d lost income as a result of the trophy hunting ban. The study didn\u2019t focus on determining how much or what percentage was lost. Participants said the ban also led to more instances of human-wildlife conflict.<\/p>\n In addition, community members said wild animals were a risk to their livelihoods as they were a danger to livestock and crop production.<\/p>\n Community tourism benefits from trophy hunting are more pronounced in smaller communities. The Conversation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Well, after 5 years the Botswana government realized that their animal population not only was not vanishing, it was a bit of a pain. More animals in less area (due to human encroachment) means more damaged crops and more unfavorable interactions. An elephant consumes about 150 kg of biomass (call it from 35 trees) A DAY.\u00a0 conbio.online<\/a>\u00a0 Botswana has seen its elephant population grow to about 130,000 (out of an estimated population WW of around 400,000. Call it about 19,500,000 kilos of food daily.\u00a0 So they weren’t happy that the PETA\/Green “oh, Dumbo is so adorable!” types in Germany decided to get righteous about poaching, which has as much to do with trophy hunting as necrophilia has to do with a funeral. So Germany is banning trophy importation.<\/p>\n Earlier this year Germany\u2019s environment ministry, which is headed up by Steffi Lemke of the Green party, raised the possibility of stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies due to poaching concerns.<\/p>\n Masisi told Bild that Germany\u2019s Green party could learn to cohabitate with elephants without hunting them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Seems to me they are..but at essentially 40,000,000 pounds of feed a day in a country whose GNP is about $17 billion annually – that is an expensive cohabitation.\u00a0 May be little money to our politicians who seem to suck up that much in bribes and perks monthly, but to Botswana it’s a lot. Luckily, Botswana’s President Masisi offers up a solution:<\/p>\n \u201dIt is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world \u2013 and even for Lemke\u2019s party,\u201d Masisi said.<\/p>\n Germans should try to \u201clive together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to,\u201d he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So Botswana has offered to send 20,000 elephants to Germany. Germans should try to \u201clive together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to,\u201d he added.\u00a0 CNN<\/a><\/p>\n I asked my wife how they could possibly send that many elephants…that’s a lot of planes or ships. Her response?\u00a0 “COD”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"heffalumps<\/del> elephants.<\/p>\n