GABORONE, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Botswana is planning to increase hunting quotas of elephants and other species to the maximum allowable for the benefit of communities during the 2024 hunting season, President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.
Masisi made the remarks Monday when delivering a televised Botswana's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. SONA is the yearly speech by the southern African country's leader before its parliament, giving his view on the state of the nation and his legislative goals for the year.
"This is part of Botswana's efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflicts and increase community benefits from sustainable wildlife utilization," said Masisi.
He said elephants are among the "problem animal" quotas for the 2023 hunting season and additional species will be added to these "problem animal" quotas during the 2024 hunting season.
With a large population of elephants, there will always be a high likelihood of incidences of human-wildlife conflict, said Masisi, adding that it is concerning that 11,310 incidents were reported in 2022, and 9,497 incidences were reported between January and September 2023. ■
