Conservationists have raised the alarm about the Botswana government’s decision to raise its annual trophy-hunting quota for elephants, reigniting the debate over how the country should manage the world’s largest elephant population.

Botswana, a largely dry nation which is home to 2.3 million people, has more than 130,000 elephants, nearly one-third of all elephants in Africa. The African continent is home to some 415,000 elephants of the world’s 460,000 elephants. The rest of the world’s elephants are in Asia.

In 2019, the government lifted its five-year moratorium on elephant hunting to keep the elephant population in check and help generate revenue for rural communities.

However, conservationists and scientists warn that the sharp increase in quota numbers recently announced risks un

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