Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany

In a conservation dispute, Botswana's president has issued a threat to send 20,000 elephants to Germany.

Angered by proposals in Berlin to restrict the import of hunting trophies, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said in comments published on Wednesday that Germans should try living among elephants, reports Al Jazeera.

He claimed that an explosion in the number of the mammals roaming his country has produced a "plague".

Earlier this year, Germany, one of the largest importers of hunting trophies in the European Union, raised the possibility of imposing stricter limits on imports due to concerns about poaching.

Masisi told German daily Bild that hunting was an important means to keep elephant numbers in check, saying that Botswana was dealing with "overpopulation", says Al Jazeera.

The proposal put forward by the environment ministry, headed by Steffi Lemke of the Green party, met scorn from Botswana, which has seen its elephant population grow to some 130,000.

It has already offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique, as it seeks to tackle Masisi's "plague".

"It 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, and even for Lemke's party," he said.

"This is not a joke," the president told the newspaper. Germans should "live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to."

"We would like to offer such a gift to Germany," Masisi declared, adding that he would "not take no for an answer".

Herds of elephants are causing property damage, eating crops and trampling residents, the president argued. A ban on the import of hunting trophies would exacerbate the problem and impoverish Botswanans, he claimed.