Botswana Removes Hunting Ban

On May 23, after a five-year ban, the Botswana government officially lifted the country’s indefinite moratorium on hunting put in place by former Botswana President Ian Khama in 2014.

Last year, the country’s current president, Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, formed a committee to reevaluate the ban. The committee consulted several experts in various fields, and ultimately determined a ban on hunting government and communal lands provided little to no benefit. In fact, a driving force behind the change was the demonstrated economic benefits of legal hunting. Cited as well were increases in human and wildlife conflicts experienced over the last five years, and the inability of the country’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks to adequately respond to problematic animals.