In Botswana, a hunter paid $50,000 to shoot a tusker elephant, one of the rarest elephant species in the world, which had impressive tusks.
The scandal swells more and more in Botswana. A few days ago, a hunter paid $50,000 to participate in a legal hunt and kill elephants. The trophy hunter killed a tusker elephant, a species known to have very large tusks, weighing over 45 kilos each.
Unfortunately, these elephants are becoming increasingly rare in Africa because they have all been hunted for their ivory. Today, it is estimated that fewer than 40 remain in the country.
The largest tusker elephant has been shot
The hunted animal was the largest tusker elephant in the country and was around 50 years old. As this species is endangered, this act has been the subject of a lively controversy. For his part, the hunter named Leon Kachelhoffer did not expect to receive such virulent reactions.
«It wasn’t one of the things I was thinking about,» he said. To be able to hunt such a buck is an incredible privilege. When you take a male like that, there’s a lot of remorse, there’s a lot of sadness, you think about the good life that elephant had. You know, it’s not just shooting a buck, taking a picture, becoming a hero and all that nonsense.»
Elephant hunting allowed in Botswana
To be able to kill this elephant, the hunter paid 50,000 dollars in order to participate in the hunt. In Botswana, elephant hunting is permitted. The practice had been banned by former President Ian Khama, before his successor Mokgweetsi Maisisi reinstated it in 2019.
«He was one of the greatest, if not the greatest tusker in the country,» the former president said in a Facebook post. An elephant that tour operators have constantly tried to show tourists as an iconic attraction. Now he is dead. How does being dead benefit our declining tourism industry? Incompetence and lack of leadership nearly wiped out the rhino population, and now this!»
According to animal experts, elephants are aware that they are hunted for their ivory. It has happened to see elephants hide their tusks in the vegetation when humans approach.