Leon Kachelhoffer

Leon Kachelhoffer is a Botswanan trophy hunter who caused an international outcry for killing a circa 45 year old rare and well-known 'big tusker' elephant in Botswana in 2022 alongside a smaller second elephant.[1][2][3] The big tusker is a highly threatened species within the African ecosystem[4] with less than 20 elephants left in the world as of 2020.[5]

Kachelhoffer, who is working as a mercenary hunter within the African wildlife since 2002, was reportedly paid $50,000 to kill the biggest elephant professionally hunted since 1996. The former Botswanian President Ian Khama criticized that Kachelhoffer had killed ‘one of the largest if not the largest tusker in the country' that had furthermore been a 'tourist attraction for tour operators'.

Kachelhoffer justified his killing by stating that poachers may otherwise have targeted the elephant for its ivory, had he not shot the animal himself.[3] Kachelhoffer furthermore stated in podcasts that elephant hunting would raise awareness for animals among people that otherwise do not have attachment points with such species.[6] He got married to his wife Candice Kitchen in South Africa in April 2022.[7]

When asked about the case, Dr. Dilys Roe of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) confirmed that paid elephant hunting could have a positive impact on wildlife, highlighting that "if nothing can be earned with wildlife, the local population would rather convert the hunting grounds into agricultural land and kill the animals themselves".[8]