Botswana mulls lifting big game hunting ban

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.

African elephant populations have decreased dramatically over the past decades, due to the illegal ivory trade and habitat loss, an NGO has said. Conservationists say only 415,000 elephants remain on the continent.

The 1,098-carat diamond was found by the Debswana company and unearthed earlier this month. The largest diamond ever mined is the Cullinan, discovered in 1905.

Two elephants are led to safety after crossing from Myanmar to Bangladesh, getting stranded on a beach and nearly dying at sea. Dwindling forests straddling southern Bangladesh and western Myanmar are some of the last remaining habitats of endangered Asian elephants.

Oregon Zoo releases a video showing Asian elephants Samudra, Rose-Tu and Chendra splash around Oregon Zoo’s Elephant Lands pool while enjoying some tasty treats. A record-breaking heatwave has swept across parts of western US and Canada since the weekend, prompting authorities to issue heat warnings and advisories.

A herd of wild elephants in China left home 16 months ago and have been wandering in Yunnan. Three dozen forestry firefighters now have the jumbo task of shepherding the elephants safely home.

Officials in Nigeria - a hub for illegal wildlife trafficking - have seized a record amount of pangolin scales and claws and elephant tusks as the government attempts to combat the trade, the head of customs said on Wednesday (August 4). The seizure, worth 22 billion naira ($54 million), included 17,134 kg of pangolin scales, 870 kg of elephant tusks and 4.60 kg in pangolin claws, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, comptroller-general of customs, said in a statement to the press.

In a big day for LGBT residents of Botswana, an attempt to overturn the decriminalisation of homosexuality has failed in court. Also, South Africa's government says it is being punished as it tries to get countries to walk back some of their Covid-19 travel restrictions. And the China-Africa summit kicks off in Dakar, where participants are discussing trade, conflict and the coronavirus pandemic.