26 Jan 2015

In an effort to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Ngamiland, the department of veterinary services as well as that of wildlife and national parks drove back over 100 buffaloes back to the delta on January 26.

Dr Obakeng Kemolatlhe said in an interview that they suspected that the animals, which are FMD virus carriers, crossed the buffalo fence at areas where it had been destroyed by elephants.

He said the buffaloes were located at Mawana fence line near Shorobe.  He explained that the process of driving the animals out involves constructing a boma that was meant to direct animals across the fence into the delta.

He said after constructing the boma, a ground team using vehicles would drive the animals towards the boma while the helicopter directed them into the boma and eventually all the animals would be back to the delta.

He said they only use the boma when the animals are found in large numbers, but when they are few they usually dart them, load them into vehicles and transport them back while at times they destroy them depending on the situation on the ground.

Dr Kemolatlhe indicated that such process makes the fight against FMD expensive since chartering a helicopter to drive buffaloes for four hours usually costs about P30 000.

He noted that it iwas thus important for all stakeholders to play their part in the fight against FMD because one outbreak usually cost a lot of money and also brought the operations of the department nationally to a halt as they pulled resources from other districts.

He further revealed that while buffaloes could be driven back to the delta, cattle that crossed the fence into the delta did not get the same treatment as they had to be destroyed.

Meanwhile, Maun BMC plant manager, Mr Mothobi Mothobi  said the Zimbabwe trade had been progressing well as payments were done on time. 

He said they were exporting 250 cattle per week, adding that this year they targeted to export 12 000. Mr Mothobi said to reduce costs; they had made a new arrangement with relevant departments such as veterinary and police for BMC to buy directly from farms. 

He said there were many cattle in the farms but they experienced some limitations as some farmers did not tag their cattle hence last year they sold only 4 300.

He further said efforts were being made to secure external markets, adding that trials made at Zambia and Mozambique and Mozambique had shown interest to buy canned beef from Ngamiland abattoir. Mr Mothobi said they managed to sell 23 000 tonnes directly to two of the countries.

“Currently we are waiting for some officials from Mozambique to come here and discuss the logistics and see if we could have permanent trade. Zambia is clear that they do not want meat from FMD area,” he added. ENDS