This year’s campaign focuses on the illegal trade of wildlife. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is calling on everyone to “go wild for life” and take action to help safeguard species under threat, for future generations. It is giving special attention to eight species in particular: orangutans, sea turtles, pangolins, rosewoods, helmeted hornbills, tigers, elephants and rhinos.
Botswana is home to one of Africa’s largest remaining elephant populations. Heavily armed poaching syndicates are rapidly depleting elephant herds in Eastern and Central Africa and there are signs that they are now increasingly turning their attention to Southern Africa’s elephant population, the last stronghold of the African elephant. Poaching of both elephant and rhino are on the rise and the threat is not being taken lightly by the Botswana Government. In February 2016, the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama, warned that the “shoot to kill” policy among security agents will remain the option to deal with poachers.
