Germany has criticized elephant poaching in Botswana and wants to stop the export of hunting trophies to the country.

In response, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany.

The Germans should "live with the animals they try to dictate to us", said Mokgweetsi Masisi, speaking to the German daily Bild.

"It's not a joke," he said of his proposal to transfer 20,000 pachyderms to the European nation, adding that he "wouldn't take no for an answer" to this "gift".

Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is home to the largest elephant population in the world, with around 130,000, with whom it is often difficult to cohabit.

Elephant attacks on humans, villages and crops are frequent in the country, which is why Mokgweetsi Masisi sees it as essential to hunt down the animal, which "tries to dictate the population".

Germany against hunting trophies

Criticism from the German Environment Ministry, which is run by environmentalists, has been directed specifically at elephant hunting tro phies bought by wealthy Western clients.

Earlier this year, the Ministry raised the possibility of imposing stricter limits on the import of these trophies due to poaching problems.

"Within the European Union (EU), we are discussing the possibility of extending the import permit requirement (...) to other hunting trophies from protected animals," a ministry spokeswoman told the France Presse (AFP) news agency.

Germany is one of the biggest importers of hunting trophies in the EU, so it has "a special responsibility" in this matter, the spokeswoman added.

As for the "gift" announced by Masisi, the German Environment Ministry said that "Botswana has not yet made contact" on the matter.

In 2019, Botswana lifted a total ban on hunting, introduced five years earlier to reverse the decline in populations of elephants and other species.

Since then, Botswana has decided every year on a quota of animals that can be hunted, and commercial hunting is also an important source of local revenue.

The lifting of the ban has been criticized by conservationists.

Last year, the country offered 8,000 elephants to Angola.

Zap//Lusa