By Reuters
Botswana’s government has revoked the licenses of two professional
hunters who shot dead a research elephant and then destroyed its
collar to try to hide the evidence.
In a statement late on Saturday, the environment and tourism ministry
said that professional hunters Michael Lee Potter and Kevin Sharp had
surrendered their licenses after shooting the elephant at the end of
last month.
Their nationalities could not be immediately established. Potter was
banned for an indefinite period and Sharp for three years. Neither
hunter was available for comment.
“In addition, the two hunters will replace the destroyed collar,” the
ministry said. “The Ministry will work with the hunting industry to
ensure that the necessary ethical standards are upheld.”
The shooting recalled the killing of ‘Cecil the lion’ by an American
hunter in neighboring Zimbabwe in 2015, also an animal that had a
research collar and was supposed to be protected. His death provoked
outrage on social media.
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi sparked global controversy when
he lifted a ban on elephant hunting in May. The ban had been installed
five years earlier by his predecessor, Ian Khama, an ardent
conservationist.
Africa’s overall elephant population is declining due to poaching but
Botswana, home to almost a third of the continent’s elephants, has
seen numbers grow to 130,000 from 80,000 in the late 1990s.
Officials in the southern African country say the animals are causing
problems for farmers by ripping up their crops, so hunting is
necessary to reduce their numbers.
The mostly arid country the size of France has a human population of
around 2.3 million, and its expanses of wilderness draw millions of
foreign tourists to view its wildlife.
