Awareness march for rhinos, elephants and lions
Zolani Kraai | Friday October 6, 2017 12:41
These were the inspiring words of Botswana’s ambassador to Global March for Elephants, Rhinos and Elephants, Thea Khama at a media briefing at Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) headquarters yesterday. She was giving a brief about the highly anticipated march of the highlighted endangered species to be held tomorrow. Thea, who is also the wife of the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama said Botswana like the rest of the world will commemorate the day based on one of the objectives of raising awareness on preservation of elephants, rhinos, lions and pangolins.
Still at the brief, event coordinator Tammy McAllister shared that the funds generated at the campaign will be donated to charitable organisations of Tlhokomela, Lady Khama Charitable, and Children of the Wilderness.
“These are charitable organisations that are located in the proximity of endangered species population and as such they have projects that complement awareness of wildlife conservation, especially those that we are raising awareness about,” she said.
On that note, Thea also stated that also Khama Rhino Sanctuary has since 1992 played a pivotal role in preservation of rhinos hence the organisation needs to be capacitated to continue raising public awareness and education on the listed species.
“My short term plan as the ambassador, is as soon as possible divert my attention from the north of Botswana to Kgalagadi south and north, where there is a huge population of lions that are also, if not preserved, face potential extinction of either been smuggled or through poaching,” she said.
Thea said efforts would be put in place to traverse the communities aligned along the game reserves so as to interact with the cattle herders and communities on how to preserve lions and cheetahs.
The global marches will commerce from the national stadium, led by Botswana Scouts Association, through the Main Mall, via Queen’s Road and back to the national stadium. According to McAllister, strict conditions have been put in place such as tight security upon arrival at the stadium entrance.