Why Botswana is selling licenses to kill elephants

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi said global economic slowdown is affecting both diamond sales and prices negatively. It is also having a knock-on effect on Botswana’s economy, but the government expects the downturn to be temporary. Masisi was speaking with Bloomberg Television's Manus Cranny at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town.

Poachers have their eyes on the grazing elephants at home in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. But neighboring Maasai and Safari tour operators are teaming up to protect the animals.

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party could see its first defeat at the polls since independence in 1966. What would a changeover of power mean for Africa's model democracy?

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has won the general election after securing 29 national assembly seats, representing 51 percent of the vote, the chief justice announced on Friday.

A new study that pinpoints Botswana as the origin of modern humans some 200,000 years ago has caused a flurry of debate among scientists, with some dismissing the research as deeply flawed.

A hundred elephants take part in the Surin elephant round-up where mahouts, the elephant handlers, show their skills in battle re-enactments and playing football. Elephants have to endure traumatic and painful training in order to be tamed.

Separated from their mothers, jabbed with metal hooks, and sometimes deprived of food -- many Thai elephants are tamed by force before being sold to lucrative tourism sites increasingly advertised as 'sanctuaries' to cruelty-conscious travellers.

Botswana is selling licenses to hunt 70 elephants in seven district months after President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted a ban on big game hunting.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard on all sectors of Botswana. But for artists, social media has become the new way to connect with fans and make money.

An Indian landowner has willed most of his land to two elephants he said saved his life from gun-toting criminals, a decision that has upset his wife and children. Akhtar Imam, from a village in the eastern state of Bihar, said he changed his will to bequeath 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) to gentle giants Moti (pearl) and Rani (queen).

Upwards of 300 elephants died in the Southern African country this year, baffling and alarming conservationists. After months of research, government officials say they have identified the cause.

Botswana has seen a steep rise in executions since President Mokgweetsi Masisi took office just over a year ago. Human rights groups are calling on the nation to ban capital punishment.