13 rhinos poached, 7 poachers killed in Okavango Delta
Staff Writer | Tuesday December 24, 2019 08:40
The Tourism Ministry has released a statement yesterday saying this brings to 31 the number of rhinos poached since October 2018, with 23 being white rhinoceros and eight black rhinoceros.
In October 2019, the Ministry released a statement regarding the ongoing poaching of rhinoceros in the Delta. At the time nine rhinos had been killed from April 1, 2019 and October 4, 2019.
'This unfortunate situation on the country's population has continued with more rhinos being killed from October 2019 to date,' the Ministry disclosed.
The ministry says the government has considerably stepped up efforts to address the poaching situation with interventions leading to recovering of some horns and hunting weapons.' During engagement with the poachers seven casualties occurred amongst poachers who were resisting arrest.'
It further says the government will continue to do all it can to ensure the protection of this iconic species, which were reintroduced twice in Botswana.
It also appealed to all stakeholders including communities and private sector to support the operations to protect this iconic species. 'We further call upon members of the community to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities in and around the Okavango Delta to the nearest security agents”.