Residents in poaching territories fear army shots
Boniface Keakabetse | Friday July 15, 2016 12:02
The army has been dispatched there after poachers from the village shot down three elephants in March this year. Motlaleselelo told Mmegi that in March two men from the village were arrested for poaching elephants but were later released by the police. He said the government then sent a battalion into the area. “There are soldiers everywhere in our area and people have been warned to behave or get shot,” he said.
Motlaleselelo said they also live in fear that they will be relocated from the delta as they stay in a settlement. He challenged law enforcement to let the law take its course on all those caught poaching instead of being on a witch-hunt of the entire community.
Attempts to get comment from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) officials in Maun since last week proved futile.
Mmegi understands that elephant poaching is on a rise in the Okavango Delta. Foreign syndicates colluding with locals who used to operate in the Chobe National Park have reportedly migrated to the Okavango Delta where they take advantage of the watery terrain to poach elephants. Due to poor delta accessibility government recently procured 14 Bat Hawk aircrafts to be used to patrol the eastern and northern parts that include Chobe and Ngami areas.
Botswana Police Services is responsible for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) while the Department of Wildlife and National Parks patrols the Kalahari Trans Frontier Park and the Mabuasehube Game Reserve.
Ngamiland District Wildlife coordinator, Timmy Blackbeard has confirmed that poaching incidents are on a rise in the Ditshiping area. He said of late carcasses of poached giraffes, elephants and buffaloes have been discovered in the area. Blackbeard said this has forced them to double their anti poaching operations in collaboration with the BDF. “We have intensified our patrols in the area,“ Blackbeard said. He however refused to comment on whether they will enforce shoot to kill in the area saying, “I will not comment on that”.
Meanwhile police in Maun say there is an emerging trend where poachers cut ivory from poached elephants into portable pieces to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Assistant Superintendent Moatlhodi Ntuane of the Narcotics, Flora and Fauna said the trend emerged towards the end of last year. He said apparently poachers cut tusks into pieces to make them more portable and concealable. He said this year they recorded two such cases where an elephant tusk was cut into pieces. Ntuane said they have adapted to this trend and are arresting culprits. He denied that this might have made the police work against elephant poaching more elusive, saying the fact that they have made arrests is indicative that they have adapted well to the trend.
Further Ntuane revealed that poor accessibility of the Okavango Delta due to the watery terrain makes it difficult to police poaching related crimes. However he said all other government departments face the challenge. Ntuane however stated that poaching is on the decline as they have been recording fewer cases compared to previous years. He said this year they have recorded just seven cases of poaching, three of which relate to elephants so far. He said in the previous years they used to record an average of 18 cases of elephant poaching in a year.