GABORONE — Botswana’s first elephant hunting season since 2014 has been hit hard by hunters pulling out because of the coronavirus outbreak, tour operators said.

The Botswana Wildlife Producers Association (BWPA) said it had asked for an extension of the hunting season, due to start in April, because travel restrictions meant hunters from many coronavirus-hit countries cannot enter Botswana.

Botswana has no confirmed case of the virus but has banned arrivals from 18 high-risk countries, including the United States, Britain, Italy and Spain.

The country’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has been placed in self-isolation after attending the swearing-in of Namibian President Hage Geingob – an event some African leaders attended in violation of their own travel restrictions.

“Everything is at a standstill. All clients that were supposed to come in have either postponed or canceled,” said Clive Eaton, who owns Tholo Safaris, a hunting company that last month bought…