Luxury hunters pay $ 50,000 to kill iconic elephant with giant ivory teeth in Botswana (photos)

Local white hunter Leon Kachelhoffer claimed to have killed the animal carrying 91kg of ivory, in the northern part of the country bordering Namibia.

The famous elephant is believed to have been in his 50s and is claimed to have been killed by a single bullet, according to millionaire hunter’s spokesmen.

There are now only 40 elephants left with similar amounts of ivory on their teeth across Africa.

Kachelhoffer reposted a Facebook post describing his controversial trophy, even with a recording of the hunting progress.

Kachelhoffer laughed, saying: “I did not program this, but it is a great privilege to kill a giant like this. “Of course there is remorse and sadness when you think about the magnificent life this elephant has lived.”

The killing was condemned by the country’s former president Ian Khama, who outlawed trophy hunting for the rich in Botswana, before his successor Mokgweetsi Masisi reinstated the practice in 2019.

With an image of the slain elephant he commented: “This was one of the elephants with the biggest teeth, if not the biggest in the country. “An elephant that tour operators described as an attraction of our country, and is now dead.”

“How can our country benefit from this practice? Irresponsibility and bad leadership have led to the extinction of the rhino population, and now this!”

Botswana is believed to still have 130,000 elephants, but only a small number with such teeth survive.

Legal hunting spokeswoman Debbie Peake justified the act by saying, “The proceeds from his body will help the community. “The animal used to have a bullet wound, so it was previously the target of illegal hunting.”

The elephant had passed its breeding age but being very intelligent animals, the older ones guide and educate the young and it is essential that they restrain their anger and aggression by coming into conflict with humans.

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