05 Aug 2014

The Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso has told Parliament that the conditions for paying out compensation in accordance with the revised compensation rates in respect of claims made for damage caused to property by lions is stated in the Regulations under section 1.2 (10) states, “No compensation applies where a farmer has injured or killed a lion.”


Hence she said farmers who killed lions were not compensated because lions were of conservation importance. 
However, Ms Tshireletso said the regulations did not cover elephants, therefore in this case a farmer was compensated 100 per cent adding that the regulations would be reviewed to include elephants.


The assistant minister stated that in November 2013 the ministry put in place measures in a bid to protect elephants or lions and at the same time mitigates loss of livestock from lions by increasing rates of compensation to 100 percent.


She said the object was to further discourage indiscriminate killing of the elephants or lions in order to maintain and enhance the wild animals to a viable population that could sustain tourism.


Ms Tshireletso said the ministry will continue to engage farmers on appropriate human- wildlife conflict mitigation methods.
 She said it is therefore not in the interest of the ministry to see farmers endangering themselves.


Ms Tshireletso was responding to a question on behalf of the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism from MP for Kweneng East Major Gen. Moeng Pheto why farmers who kill elephants or lions which destroy their crops and livestock are no compensated.


He also asked if she would rather have the farmers not protect their properties through shooting these predators for fear of killing them which would deny them compensation.
 ENDS