Botswana held its first auctions for the right to hunt elephants since lifting a ban last year.
The country has some 130,000 elephants, the largest population in the world.
The government sold seven hunting licences on Friday, with each allowing hunters to kill 10 elephants in “controlled hunting areas”.
Officials revoked a 2014 ban in May, saying human-elephant conflict and the negative impact on livelihoods was increasing.
The lifting of the ban has been popular with many in rural communities, but has been heavily criticised by conservationists.
How did the auctions work?
Seven packages of 10 elephants each were sold at the auction in the capital Gaborone on Friday afternoon, the BBC’s Southern Africa correspondent Nomsa Maseko reports.
Only companies registered in Botswana were allowed to bid for the licences. Bidders put down a refundable deposit of 200,000 pula ($18,000; £14,000).
The government has issued a quota for the killing of 272 elephants in 2020.
The hunting would help areas most impacted by “human wildlife conflict”, wildlife spokeswoman Alice Mmolawa told AFP news agency.
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