Politics, popular grievances and the power of animal advocacy

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This comment by Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi sums up the feelings of not just Botswana’s President but also of many of its parliamentarians, community leaders and especially-of Batswana who live in rural areas alongside potentially dangerous and destructive wildlife.

To them it seems that Western animal lovers and animal-rights NGOs, and their African allies, appear to cherish wildlife above any concern for people who suffer crop damage or loss of livestock. This has been a long-running issue across southern Africa, but Botswana in particular is now caught up in an increasingly bitter controversy over its elephants that is fuelled by a number of factors, including:

 

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