Botswana wants elephant cull
2005-03-09 10:18
Gabarone - Botswana's president is seeking support from neighbouring Zambia for a proposal that would allow it to cull elephants and sell their ivory, officials said on Tuesday.
President Festus Mogae is expected to ask visiting Zambian President Levi Mwanawasa for support to downgrade the status of elephants under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said Botswana has an overpopulation of elephants and Mogae wants to move elephants to a different category under Cites that would allow them to be culled to "acceptable levels."
Botswana and Zambia are among southern African countries with huge elephant herds that are in some cases destroying the environment. The countries have argued that each year they should be allowed to sell a set amount of ivory from elephants that have died naturally or were culled under government-supervised programmes.
In 2002, Cites voted to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to collectively sell 60 metric tons in a one-time sale.
But countries such as Kenya, where the elephant population is still recovering from rampant poaching in the 1980s, are worried that such sales give cover to poachers who want to sell illegally obtained ivory.
After meeting Mwanawasa on Tuesday, Mogae praised Botswana's relations with Zambia and paid tribute to Zambia's role in liberation movements on the continent.
Mogae also said it was important to expedite construction on a bridge across the Zambezi on their joint border.
Mwanawasa will return to Zambia on Thursday. - AP
- SAPA