News / National
'You have blood on your hands,' Botswana President told
03 Jun 2019 at 04:22hrs | Views
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi was at the weekend interjected by an animal rights activist as he addressed a diamond conference in Las Vegas, United States for lifting the ban on the hunt of elephants in his country.
The angry protestor sprang from her chair as the Botswana president was addressing and accused him of having blood on his hands.
"How can you say you care about wildlife when you lifted the ban on killing elephants? By lifting the ban you are condoning the killing and murder by local and foreign trophy hunters," shouted the activist.
She added that the move was inhuman protesting, "killing the elephants is not the answer, lifting the ban is not the answer. .. this is not the answer, you have blood on your hands."
Masisi calmly responded to the activist saying he would like to invite her to Botswana to witness the country's animal conservation efforts.
"I wish she could sit down so I could talk to her. We in Botswana have done tremendous amount of work out of our commitment to wildlife, to nature, to environment, to protect all our species," said Masisi.
Botswana, carrying a third of Africa's elephants, last month lifted a five year ban on the hunt of elephants saying the jumbos' population had swelled so much that it was affecting the livelihoods of farmers.
It is estimated that Botswana is home to about 130 000 elephants.
Masisi's predecessor Ian Khama had issued the ban on elephant hunting in 2014 following concerns of declining wildlife populations.
The angry protestor sprang from her chair as the Botswana president was addressing and accused him of having blood on his hands.
"How can you say you care about wildlife when you lifted the ban on killing elephants? By lifting the ban you are condoning the killing and murder by local and foreign trophy hunters," shouted the activist.
She added that the move was inhuman protesting, "killing the elephants is not the answer, lifting the ban is not the answer. .. this is not the answer, you have blood on your hands."
Masisi calmly responded to the activist saying he would like to invite her to Botswana to witness the country's animal conservation efforts.
"I wish she could sit down so I could talk to her. We in Botswana have done tremendous amount of work out of our commitment to wildlife, to nature, to environment, to protect all our species," said Masisi.
Botswana, carrying a third of Africa's elephants, last month lifted a five year ban on the hunt of elephants saying the jumbos' population had swelled so much that it was affecting the livelihoods of farmers.
It is estimated that Botswana is home to about 130 000 elephants.
Masisi's predecessor Ian Khama had issued the ban on elephant hunting in 2014 following concerns of declining wildlife populations.
Source - Byo24News
