A view from Noah�s Ark

The conference – the second of its kind after the inaugural event in London – is appropriately being held in Botswana, one of the world’s toughest addresses for poachers.

With a ‘shoot-on-sight’ policy for armed, combative poachers, a two-year-old hunting ban and a P48 million militarised Rhino squad currently in training, Botswana is widely and correctly regarded as one of the few safe havens for endangered wildlife in Africa. At present, Botswana boasts the largest elephant population in the world and is receiving rhinos for protection from South Africa, where 1,200 were killed last year.