Figures soar despite huge anti-poaching resource

Additional areas are parts of the North East District, Okavango, Bobirwa, Tuli Block and even the Central District. Latest reports indicate that elephants have reached the southern part of the country, and were recently spotted in regions such as Kweneng and Kgatleng. The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism has invested millions of pula to combat poaching. We have been informed that the ministry has gone to the extent of acquiring aircraft to reinforce anti-poaching operations that are usually conducted by the Botswana Defence Force jointly with wildlife troopers.

 Other stakeholders such as the Embassy of the United States of America, and the Chinese Embassy have recently joined the fight against poaching by providing training and resources to empower local security agencies. There are many interventions that have been implemented to fight this scourge.  It is therefore shocking to learn that 17 elephants were killed in a single month in the Ngamiland alone.