I want Botswana to follow up on that threat because it would be one of the funniest malicious compliance between two countries in history.

Botswana: We'll send 20,000 elephants to Germany. Whole world: What about us?! 🥺

Just tell the Germans the elephants are migrating and they will be sure to accept them with open arms.

"Unable to ignore the elephant in the room". Damn!

Please Botswana. Make the same offer to Portugal or Spain. Having 20 elephants would be great to attract tourists to rural areas away from the coasts.

the same Germany has been killing wolves and breaking pigeons claiming to be culling when others are culling the animals it's all bad.shame on you...

Europeans like the idea of elephants but don't want to deal with the dung.

Germany should at first consider growing its forests back to the state of prehistoric times and reintroducing bears and wolves. A German saying is "don't throw around stones, when you are living in a glass palace". But the German Government had no problem in shooting Bruno the Bear in 2005 when it was the first bear to remigrate to Germany after more than a century of bearless German forests.

Conservation entities can assist Botswana give some of the elephants to other African countries where elephant populations have been severly reduced. These countries can then repay Botswana over time for those elephants. I believe that would be a better approach to the overpopulation problem rather than trophy hunting.

Take the 20 000 elephants , and give them to Ukraine , 20k african elephants charging over the trenches toward the Ruzzians

"The elephant in the room" joke is a nice touch from the writer 👍

Will there be wild elephants in Europe in the future? Exciting!

The elephant is the room here is...

Why can't they just import those to zoos in countries who don't have elephants in their zoos?

Botswana is shipping thousands of elephants to germany??? LOL :). The best joke in a while!

I have seen a lot of people saying "just spread them around Africa." Guys, you know Africa is a continent, right? One with massively different climates and local environments. Even in places where there are elephants already, it should be noted these have often already adapted to their specific environments. With that in mind, Botswana's elephants are adapted to their local environment, and it can't be taken as a given they'd perform well or mesh with other environments even a few hundred miles from where they live now. Even if they could, that's another competitor for resources and possibly a danger to local humans and animals. And before someone says "well, it's the animal's territory anyway" or something, first of all, I invite you to find a wild animal that's native to your region, preferably a large one that can get aggressive from time to to time, and invite it into your house, or even let it take over while you can locate. Then you can talk about why others can't develop areas for their benefit because it would hurt or inconvenience local animals. Second, consider the size of the elephants, their capacity to clear entire acres of foliage (sometimes including farmland people need to live). Consider their ability to total vehicles and destroy buildings out of rage, hunger, curiosity, or sport. Consider the sheer nightmare male elephants turn into during musth. Maybe then, you can understand why local governments would be concerned about importing them, let alone governments where the nations are still industrializing and dealing with large poor populations as well as unrest among local groups for reasons ranging from politics and religion to ethnic tensions and more. You might also then understand why curbing the population with hunting, including trophy hunting (which often provides meat to the locals) is an option that said governments find appealing. Life isn't a Disney movie, and sometimes you have to choose who or what suffers so that others can prosper, and most sane people tend to prioritize human life over that of animals, even if people who don't have to live with said animals then get offended on the animals behalf. And lest anyone say I don't care or I hate them, I love elephants, but I have to consider what life is like for people who live around them before casting a moral stance on how some governments deal with their presence.

The title sounds like something from The Onion.

Europe had elephants too. All gone.

Elephants are not pets. They are wild animals. There's hunting also in the West. How's hunting wild pigs in Europe to control its population different from hunting African elephants that are becoming a pest. Environmentalists who care more about animals than humans are not really environmentalists. They are ideologues. Remember, human beings are also part of the environment.

I'm sure that Gretta Thunberg would be happy to house and feed 200 of them at her place. Now there is only 19,800 that need a new home.

Hannibal Barca be like:

Let's be realistic...they could not even export 1 elephant to Germany.

I am not eager to see elephants being shot...but just what does Plan B look like for Botswana otherwise? 130,000 elephants? In a country of only 2.3 million? That is a lot of elephants. How much are YOU willing to pay to keep them around and hunter free? I don't imagine anybody here would be willing to bet their lives as the Batswana people do...

How can I donate to make this happen?

The Elephants Will Fly using their Ears To a Habitat Near You. Germany Should take the Offer, That's 20,000 Out of 130,000 Elephants... Let's Not Forget 10% for the Big Guy 🐘

1/3 of elephants in one country is insane. Spreading them throughout Africa makes more sense rather than supporting poaching or shipping them to Germany. A pipeline to Asia as well. Send them to PA i love elephants 🐘

I wish this was as bad as world news got!

Trouphy hunting is bad cruel however, this issue is just another "Shut up call" by Africa for free preaching. Germany can use opportunity and take elephants or stop free advice.

That’s a hell of a threat.

Trophy hunting is disgusting

The Rumbling is happening...

Am from Ghana , you can send us some . But this bafoon wants to fill his pocket with trophy hunting .

So botswana wants to give Germany an army's worth of the world's second largest land based herbivore, right behind, you guessed it, another elephant. Maybe rethink it a bit??

What is this Age of Empires?

Why not terraform Mars and send some of those elephants to live there?

Emotional people will never be more qualified than a trained game biologist

I don’t know why, but something like this is just intrinsically funny to me.

In Kenya on honeymoon our guide complained constantly about the overpopulation of elephants and the damage they caused. He wanted to lead hunters. I don't understand the mentality of trophy hunting though. It's literally like walking into a safari park enclosure and shooting an animal. There's no skill required. I understand the skills required to track, find and kill something like deer or antelope which can then be eaten but driving up to a heard of giraffe and elephants seems like something fat millionaires would do to make them feel big and powerful.

As a German citizen you just have to be ashamed of this government!

That’s an hilarious threat

Soon you will see the illegal Chinese hunting elephant in Botswana 😢

Sending the elephants to other parts of the world makes sense. Why didn't they think of that in the first place

Dang reporter beat me to the "elephant in the room" pun

I mean sounds cool, but the temperature over there is really cold and African Elephants are use to warm climates.

Morals are difficult once you have to execute population control. Most people don't understand that culling animals can and must also be a tool if preditors have gone extinct in an area. Elephants are mostly prey as calves. For a country with little Hyena or lions population keeping the elephant numbers in check is only by droughts and tourism does not like sad and dying animals by dehydration so they keep ponds with water all year round, which encourages elephants to mate. Culling might be necessary or allowing droughts to take its course. It should not be done out of cruelty or the fun of it however. Educating tourists and policy makers of the necessity and nature of things is sometimes impossible. We are not used to the harshness of nature anymore.

The EU should ban de import of any kind of hunt trophies or wild animal skins andbones for that matter. There are many countries in Africa where elephants have bern exterminated by poaching and hunting, and as a fundamental piece in the life chain they should be reintroduced, so Botswana could do business with those countrues and export their excess elephants.

"Colonialism" now just means "thing I don't like".

Will Babar rise to occasion and form his kingdom of Celesteville from large swaths of land in Botswana ?

Declare them to be religious and economic refugees and they'll have to accept them!

LOL :) Botwana must be proud! Great idea, great joke and other countries should help this succes be even bigger :).

It is like you want to ban abortion but you don't want to adopt the kid.

Those Elephants will be more polite and contributative than the other african migrants.

The elephants will not be homesick because they will see lots of people from Africa in Germany

If you're giving out elephants, I'll take one.

They should send them to areas where they’ve gone extinct locally, or they could start a Pleistocene rewinding project starting off with smaller enclosures and move on from there

Imagine putting an elephant head on a plane lol.

This is the dumbest threat i’ve ever heard.. how exactly is Botswana gonna do that?

People forget “conservation” means to keep them at a healthy stable population even elephants can be a problem or even invasive species given there are too many.

Can you imagine a bunch of elephants running around a construction site?? Lol oh goodness

Germany will happily accept this proposal

I have not played the video yet but damn that title is wild

Botswana attempting to start the Fourth Punic War.

Poaching & trophy hunting is sick. Heart of Darkness. The Elephants graveyard. SHAME.

I find it hard to believe that his country would make more money from folks who want to see elephants dead than those who want to see them alive. I know there are a lot of sick people who want to shoot every living animal on the planet, but far more just want a chance to experience seeing them alive in the wild before they’re all gone.

I like how they say elephants are a threat to human life and they're literally in a field

What the hell is that guy thinking? Of course they have so much elephants because of conservation efforts. That’s the idea since the population has been decreasing over the past 50 years, if not more. 20,000 animals to send them in a country where they have absolutely no need for them is absurd. The most logical approach would be to translocate some herds in their neighboring countries because of how little they have left. Whatever the issue is, most people will not stand for this and therefore, he’ll risk facing an uproar of the citizens who dislikes the idea of something that is impossible to begin with.

Hopefully they don't try to deliver them through the Alps

You've got a surplus of a threatened animal and you can't think of another way to profit off that? No wonder the country is poor lol

Who can speak Elephant to help them(referring to the Elephants) understand what is going on and why,hence the title?

Germany would look pretty cool with elephants. They wouldn’t survive a winter in germany though😂 Can’t believe how many people here genuinely think a herbivore can survive a snowy winter. Especially a german winter.

Donate some to the Philippines

I hope they don't knock down all the beer tents.

I have 50acres of land in NovaScotia, Canada.. ill take 50 🐘 please.. Do they like the winter at all,, im no expert.. yet..!!

Yep, too many elephants. But they still took my elephant skin belt, made from an elephant that died naturally on a reserve.

I'm guessing there isn't some type of IUD for elephants.

Just tell the Germans the elephants practice Judaism. Then they'll stop caring about the hunting.

Tourism accounts for 20% of Botswana's economy. Much of that tourism is safari tourism--people want to visit wild areas to see wildlife, particularly elephants. Rather than encouraging more tourism to Botswana by highlighting it has the largest elephant population in the world, the President of Botswana appears to be giving the finger to international efforts to increase ethical tourism. Sustainable practices happen on the ground, ensuring safe corridors for both elephants and humans. Sustainable practices include reforestation efforts, and localized intensified farming to reduce human/elephant conflict. Rather than viewing elephants as a 'problem', they are a precious resource that could help ensure economic security for Botswana.

Get all the environmental folks to pay damages for Botswana.

they would trample all over the solar panels . they would push over the wind turbines.

Yes. All the Europeans, please keep telling Africa how to run itself in every manner. Keep up the tradition.

The tusk’s are the trophy and the meat can feed a village for weeks. Let the people of all Africa decide what is best for them get a life and mind your own store

Humans have always been part of the ecosystem. If we stop hunting certain animals, an imbalance will naturally occur.

Putin must be held accountable for this horrific idea

he doesn't have enough money to save the people how he gonna send 20,000 of them any where

Remember guys there's 2 types of elephants African and Asian.

Just sell them all to Texas

Why can’t we send 20,000 of our phlegmanists to Germany?

Botswana should just donate 20 000 elephants to the southern part of Congo, that region is without wild life..

Hunting FUNDS ANIMAL PROTECTION

Elephant steak for dinner?

… so can i buy one?

Germany populated by elephants? 🤔 Last time elephants once lived in Germany naturally was the Ice Age. Then again, there are South American rheas in Germany.

It’s a tuff thing, I’m a hunter, but i wouldn’t hunt an elephant, but I also wouldn’t stop someone from hunting them. I think there a intelligent animal and there’s not many animals in there ecosystem that can control there population besides humans.

im a hunter ..not of elephants but dude im sorry if anyone wants to take home elephant skin as a trophy ...thats fuxed never understood the feelings of wanting to kill such a large and beautiful animal doubt anyone is eating elephants but i guess i dont know

Send them to the US!

This will upset people but I can sorta see his point. If there is a thriving population in that country how is hunnting them any different than hunnting deer. Both are said to be done for population control. That being said I don't really like the idea of elephant's being hunted but like I said I sorta see his point. Please don't hate me to much for my comment thank you.

The only shots necessary of an elephant are photographic. Capturing elephants for hunting practice is a cruel idea. isn't there a place in Africa, outside of Botswana, where they can live? Aren't humans some of the most troublesome inhabitants? Both elephants and humans are sentient beings. May we learn to live peacefully together.

Me, and American: oh no, anyway

“The earth is overflowing with humans”*

There's more people then there's elephants