Originally published 2021-03-21.
South African professional hunter Theunis Botha, 51, died on 19 May 2017 on a private ranch near Hwange National Park in north-western Zimbabwe, when an elephant that had seized him with its trunk was shot by another hunter and collapsed on top of him. The accident happened during a hunt with a paying client in the Gwayi (Gwai) area, a region of hunting concessions bordering the national park.
The story spread worldwide, often with headlines suggesting the elephant had taken revenge. The reality is simpler and sadder: a group of hunters walked into a breeding herd of elephants with calves, the animals did what protective mothers do, and several elephants and one man died. Here is what is known about the incident, who Botha was, and the wider debate about trophy hunting and elephant conservation it reignited.
What happened on the Good Luck ranch
Botha was guiding a hunt on a property known as Good Luck Ranch (also reported as Good Luck Farm) when the group came across a breeding herd. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Simukai Nyasha told reporters that he had unknowingly ended up in the middle of the herd, which included several calves.
According to accounts reported by Live Science and News24, three female elephants charged the group. Botha opened fire, and as he did so a fourth female came at him from the side, grabbed him with her trunk and lifted him into the air. Another member of the hunting party shot that elephant. She died and fell on Botha, crushing him. His body was taken to the mortuary at Hwange Colliery Hospital.
Early reports differed on details, with some describing Botha as trampled rather than crushed. The most widely reported version, however, is that he died under the elephant that was shot while holding him.
Who was Theunis Botha?
Botha was from Tzaneen in Limpopo, South Africa. He began leading hunts on his own property in South Africa in 1989 and built a safari business that later took clients onto private ranches in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. His company advertised hunts using specially bred and trained hounds to track big cats such as leopards and lions, a method that is controversial even among some hunters.
His clients were mostly wealthy foreign visitors, many from the United States. Big-game hunting trips of this kind commonly cost tens of thousands of dollars, especially when they include elephants or big cats. Botha left behind his wife, Carike, and their children.
Why elephants charge
The incident fits what wildlife experts know about elephant behaviour. Herds are led by older females and are made up mostly of mothers, daughters and young calves. When they feel threatened, particularly when calves are present, female elephants may mock charge or charge for real to drive danger away.
Hunters and safari guides are trained to read warning signs such as raised heads, spread ears, trumpeting and shaking heads. Walking into the middle of a breeding herd, often hidden in thick bush, is one of the most dangerous situations a person can face on foot in Africa. Live Science noted that long-range rifles do not always protect hunters, especially in dense vegetation where animals appear at close range.
How many elephants are left in Africa?
Older articles often quote about 350,000 African elephants. The most widely cited survey is the IUCN's African Elephant Status Report of 2016, which estimated about 415,000 elephants across the continent, roughly 111,000 fewer than a decade earlier. It was the first continental decline recorded in the report's 25-year history, and the IUCN named ivory poaching as the main driver.
In 2021 the IUCN reassessed African elephants as two species. The African savanna (bush) elephant is now listed as Endangered, and the African forest elephant as Critically Endangered.
The long-term fall is far steeper. Researchers estimate that Africa may once have supported many millions of elephants. A continental count in 1976 suggested about 1.3 million, which fell to around 600,000 by 1989 during the ivory poaching crisis. The main threats today are:
- Poaching for ivory, which surged in the 1970s and 1980s and again after 2006.
- Habitat loss and fragmentation, as farms, roads, fences and settlements cut through migration routes.
- Human-elephant conflict, when elephants raid crops or damage property and are killed in retaliation.
Zimbabwe holds one of Africa's largest elephant populations, estimated at around 80,000 in its 2015–2020 national management plan, much of it in and around Hwange.
Does trophy hunting help or hurt conservation?
Botha's death brought renewed attention to a long-running argument: can paying to shoot animals help protect them?
The case made by supporters
The IUCN's guiding principles say that well-managed trophy hunting can provide revenue and give local people a reason to conserve wildlife, keep land wild and protect animals from poachers. Supporters point to Namibia's community conservancies, where elephant numbers have grown and hunting income is shared with local residents, and to Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE programme.
The case made by critics
Critics say the money rarely reaches the people who live alongside wildlife. National Geographic reported an IUCN study estimating that trophy hunting created only around 15,000 jobs across Africa and earned local communities roughly ten cents per hectare. In parts of Zimbabwe, councils reported negligible hunting revenue, and villagers said they had received nothing. Conservation International's Sebastian Troeng has been quoted as arguing that it is impossible to sustainably harvest a species that is in decline.
Policy has swung back and forth. The US Fish and Wildlife Service suspended imports of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Tanzania in 2014, and the question of whether to allow them has been debated repeatedly since.
What readers can take from the story
It is easy to treat a death like this as a moral fable. A more useful response is to look at the facts behind it:
- The elephants were defending their herd, not seeking revenge.
- Several elephants died in the same incident, a reminder that hunts carry costs beyond the trophy taken.
- African elephant numbers have fallen sharply, and both species are now classified as endangered.
- If you want to help, support established conservation and anti-poaching organisations, choose photographic safaris that employ local people, and never buy ivory or wildlife products.
Whatever one thinks of trophy hunting, a man lost his life and a family lost a husband and father. The healthier conversation is about how people and elephants can share the same landscapes with fewer deaths on either side.
Sources: Live Science, May 2017; News24, 21 May 2017; Al Jazeera on the IUCN African Elephant Status Report 2016; Wikipedia: African elephant; National Geographic: trophy hunting and conservation.
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