Hunting and anti-poaching in Botswana :: Mmegi Online

A mid the furore unleashed by proponents of photographic tourism by the GoB’s announcement that it was to consider the reintroduction of some form of hunting, we would do well to remember the greater context, which is the conservation of Botswana’s natural resources.

Putting aside for now the ill-advised and predictably inflammatory statement that there could be some management of the elephant population, including limited culling, let’s consider some facts.

During the latest elephant census carried out to extremely high standards by EWB, a number of elephant poaching “hotspots” were recorded. The reporting of these has resulted in an irresponsible hysteria in the press and unpleasant accusations and innuendo from many sources. Maybe we shouldn’t expect the press to understand the statistics behind the survey results, which indicate similar numbers to the previous survey in 2014, not a catastrophic decline, but they should try to get to the truth, especially as their correspondents seem not even slightly familiar with the greater Botswana environment.

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