Article by Thomas Weber
published by Die Presse on 03.04.2024 (Original version: German – DeepL translation)
Botswana wants to donate 20,000 elephants to Germany because Berlin wants to ban the import of hunting trophies. On the naive romanticism of some conservationists.
“I had to read it three times before I understood it,” admits Flemish author Gaea Schoeters in an interview with Die Presse: a Facebook ad that promotes trophy hunting for a rare ibex in Pakistan, but at the same time advertises that the money for the hunting licenses will go towards the conservation and protection of this very species. At first glance, this seems absurd, unless you are familiar with the principle of “conservation through use”, which is how trophy hunting actually contributes to the conservation of species and habitats in many parts of the world.
This principle is also being discussed here, at the highest European level as well as in the lowlands of Vienna’s peripheral and hunting areas – for example when it comes to the controversial hunting of mating capercaillie (up in the mountains) or endangered partridges (in the federal capital). At first glance, it seems perfectly logical to want to place endangered species under complete protection. Why should endangered animals be hunted?
On the other hand, hunting with a sense of proportion makes perfect sense. If huntable game is of value to the local population and landowners, they protect it and its habitat. As long as hunted animals, their meat and fur are used, this management is no longer reprehensible. “Use it or lose it”, say some conservationists pragmatically. As a principle, “protection through utilization” remains as controversial as it has proven itself in many places.
Well-meaning conservationists sometimes ignore these complex relationships when they want to impose their romantic ideas on the rest of the world. Gaea Schoeters has captured the insights she has gained from fascination, shock and research in “Trophäe”; her clever, mercilessly consistent novel about big game hunting and species conservation, human rights and our still colonialist view of Africa, which was rightly celebrated at the Leipzig Book Fair. The German Federal Minister for the Environment, Steffi Lemke, has recently received an ideological gut punch for her under-complex approach to solving the problem.
“Conservationists suppress complex interrelationships when they want to impose their romantic ideas on the rest of the world.”
Many people probably thought it was a belated April Fool’s joke when Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, announced in the Bild newspaper that he wanted to donate 20,000 live elephants to Germany. Because the Green Federal Minister wants to ban the import of hunting trophies, this would promote poverty and poaching in his country.
The loss of hunting tourism would not only deprive Botswana of foreign currency. The elephant population, which has recently grown to 130,000 animals thanks to successful species protection, would also be threatened because the pachyderms would lose value for the population and would only be seen as dangerous pests in agriculture. According to Bild, the Germans should “live together with the animals in the way you are trying to tell us to”. As a condition, he stipulated that the 20,000 elephants must be kept “in the wild” in Germany. These would simply have to be collected.
This is not only strange, but also bitter for the minister. Especially as Germany itself is failing on many levels when it comes to species conservation on its own territory. “Bison, elk and bears cannot gain a foothold in Germany. But Federal Minister Lemke wants to dictate to Botswana and Namibia how they manage their elephants and other wild animals,” states Klaus Hackländer, President of the German Wildlife Foundation and Boku Professor of Wildlife Biology and Hunting Management. The minister is driven by ideology and negates facts.
The German Federal Minister should allow herself a pause for thought on the subject of trophy hunting, perhaps read Gaea Schoeter’s “Trophy”; three times if necessary.
