• LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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    8 months ago

    Botswana as a benevolent steward of the world’s wildlife is a lie. They ban the local people from subsistence hunting but invite the world’s ultra wealthy instead—even though it is the traditions of those local people who preserved those animals since prehistoric times. They now take credit while destroying the cultures who did the real work of protecting that wildlife.

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/25/genocide-in-plain-sight-shooting-bushmen-from-helicopters-in-botswana/

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    8 months ago

    Officials from the southern African country already protested a potential U.K. ban on safari hunters importing trophies, warning in March they would send 10,000 elephants to Hyde Park in London.

    So who’s paying to ship these 30,000 elephants to Europe?

    Because I imagine shipping one elephant would be pretty expensive and I don’t think Botswana is a very wealthy country…

    • PugJesus@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      Because I imagine shipping one elephant would be pretty expensive and I don’t think Botswana is a very wealthy country…

      Botswana is one of the best off countries in Africa.

        • PugJesus@kbin.social
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          8 months ago

          I don’t see why not. I mean, it would be a colossal waste of money, but the Botswana government has a yearly budget of some 4 billion USD.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            8 months ago

            I honestly don’t know how much it costs to transport one elephant, but it would be a lot unless you were fine with letting it die. To keep them from getting too stressed, you need to move them quickly, which means cargo plane. You have to prepare that plane for the elephant so it will remain healthy during the flight. You probably have to sedate them, which takes a huge amount of sedatives. You also have to arrange transportation to and from both airports. In the case of the threat to the British, from either Gatwick or Heathrow to Hyde Park. I don’t know how many elephants can safely fit into a cargo plane, but let’s be generous and say four.

            That’s something you have to repeat 7,500 times.

            I honestly don’t know that $4 billion USD would cover that.

        • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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          8 months ago

          Easily.

          The price for a 20ft shipping container from Africa to Europe is around €12.000 and you should be able to fit two elephants in a container. So you need around 15.000 containers, so aroung €180 million. And you’d probably get a discount for booking half a container ship.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            8 months ago

            You are ignoring everything I said about providing for the elephant’s health. So I guess you’re assuming they don’t care if those elephants die.

            • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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              8 months ago

              You didn’t say anything about health? And I’m pretty sure you can keep an elephant alive in a container for a week.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                8 months ago

                I honestly don’t know how much it costs to transport one elephant, but it would be a lot unless you were fine with letting it die. To keep them from getting too stressed, you need to move them quickly, which means cargo plane. You have to prepare that plane for the elephant so it will remain healthy during the flight. You probably have to sedate them, which takes a huge amount of sedatives. You also have to arrange transportation to and from both airports. In the case of the threat to the British, from either Gatwick or Heathrow to Hyde Park. I don’t know how many elephants can safely fit into a cargo plane, but let’s be generous and say four.

                That’s something you have to repeat 7,500 times.

                I honestly don’t know that $4 billion USD would cover that.

                I didn’t say that in reply to you, but I did post it before you posted your reply, so it was already there when you replied.

                • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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                  8 months ago

                  So the elephants might be a bit “stressed” but being a box for a week won’t kill them (not most of them anyway), so the plane is not needed.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    8 months ago

    Invasive species indeed!

    Is there a US National Park that could take them, I wonder? That would be a sight to behold!

    Poor mountain lions would be like “WTF? Can we eat that?” and the elephants would be like “Bitch, we know REAL lions…”

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        8 months ago

        “Hannibal? Is this Rome?”

        “Well I think it… it looks… is it? Ah, fuck it. We’re invading anyway.”

        • ours@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Meanwhile at Rome when they get the new Hannibal is fighting the Germanic tribes: “Let them fight!”.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany as the countries argue over the import of hunting trophies.

    Masisi attacked the German federal government, and the environment ministry in particular, led by Green minister Steffi Lemke, for seeking to ban the import of trophies despite Botswana’s overpopulation of elephants.

    Officials from the southern African country already protested a potential U.K. ban on safari hunters importing trophies, warning in March they would send 10,000 elephants to Hyde Park in London.

    The animal rights organization PETA supports Lemke’s plans to restrict and possibly ban the import, calling trophy hunting “a hobby of rich, jaded people who have more money than morals.”

    Botswana should ban trophy hunting entirely and instead rely on photo tourism to generate revenue, the spokesperson added, pointing out that living animals would do more for the country’s image.

    The German Association for Animal Welfare called the government’s plans “long overdue” and shared a 2022 report with POLITICO, which argues that such hunts, in fact, exacerbate existing inequalities within society instead of diminishing them.


    The original article contains 453 words, the summary contains 178 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Masisi attacked the German federal government, and the environment ministry in particular, led by Green minister Steffi Lemke, for seeking to ban the import of trophies despite Botswana’s overpopulation of elephants.

    “We have a problem we can’t control, so that should prevent you from controlling imports of dead animal parts to your country”

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    “Do you have any idea how expensive it is to maintain nature? Why won’t you let us pay for it by letting rich assholes murder beautiful animals?”