[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 14 (Monday, April 6, 1998)]
[Pages 539-540]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters in Kasane, Botswana

March 30, 1998

Botswana National Parks

    The President. I learned today that 17 percent of this country is in 
national parks and national preserves. They've done a great job of 
protecting their wildlife.

[[Page 540]]

Russian Elections

    Q. TASS is quoting Yeltsin as saying he's not going to be part of 
the 2000 campaign, and he's going to support Chernomyrdin.
    The President. Chernomyrdin?
    Q. Yes.
    The President. That's interesting.

President's Safari

    Q. What have you seen today, sir?
    The President. Well, we've seen probably 20 or 30 different kinds of 
birds--fascinating ones--including some eagles I had never seen before 
and some storks I had never seen before and obviously the vultures and 
then a lot of the smaller, very beautiful birds, like these rollers. 
There you've got a baboon, right there, and is that an impala with it? 
An impala, a baboon, and three elephants right here where we're 
standing.
    We saw a water buffalo--I think you saw it also--that had been 
wounded, apparently, by a lion. We saw the horns of a kudu and the 
skull, all that remained of what apparently was a lion kill up the road 
here, and the vultures were still kind of hanging around it.
    It's amazing. It's been an amazing day.
    Q. Any warthogs? We saw some.
    The President. No.
    Hillary Clinton. We saw hippos.
    The President. We saw a lot of hippos.
    Mrs. Clinton. Crocodiles.
    Q. Did you check out the stars last night?
    The President. It was amazing, wasn't it? The stars were amazing.
    Mrs. Clinton. We saw the lions, too.
    Q. Oh, you didn't see the lions.
    Mrs. Clinton. We did, Sam [Sam Donaldson, ABC News]. We did.
    Q. You saw a lion?
    Mrs. Clinton. Yes, we saw a mother lion and four cubs.
    The President. Oh, yes. They were up underneath a tree.
    Mrs. Clinton. One of the lions was in the tree.
    The President. You could barely see them, and the mother lion was on 
her back, playing with the kids.
    Q. I would have killed for that. [Laughter]
    The President. It was great. At one point, she even had one of her--
one of the cubs' tail in her mouth. They were playing with it back and 
forth.
    Q. Can a Democratic President admire an elephant?
    The President. Yes, and I like to see them concentrated here. 
[Laughter]
    Q. I set you up there.
    The President. Actually, I was kind of jealous that the Republicans 
had appropriated such a nice animal as their symbol. [Laughter] I think 
they're fascinating, these elephants are.
    Q. At the restaurant last night, did you check out any of the zebra 
or crocodile?
    The President. I tried it all.
    Q. Those elephants produce more dung than any other animals. 
[Laughter]
    The President. If you write that, make sure you say he did it, not 
me.
    Q. But make sure you say the President was smiling.
    Q. Mrs. Clinton, have you enjoyed it?
    Mrs. Clinton. Oh, very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:55 a.m. at Chobe National Game Park. In 
his remarks, he referred to former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin of 
Russia. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
exchange.