12 Sep 2017

A team of officers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) worked round the clock to control a fire that erupted at Maun Wildlife Educational Park.

The fire started around 10am on Monday, and the team with assistance from members of the public managed to control the fire which was exacerbated by strong winds.

The park is 500 metres wide and 5 000 meters long and the burnt portion was estimated to be 200 metres wide and 400 metres long.

The DWNP regional coordinator, Mr Timmy Blackbeard confirmed the incident in an interview, noting that they were shocked to learn about the incident.

He said they received calls from members of the public notifying them about the incident, adding that they immediately rushed to the scene and started putting off the fire with fire beaters.

He said they could not establish the cause of the fire, but suspected that it might have been caused by some people who were clearing the road along the park fence.

“We managed to control and stop the fire with assistance from our students from Botswana Wildlife Training Institute and some members of the public before it could cause more damage. The fire was also stopped by some water channels in the park,” he added.

Some animals in the park were forced to flee the fire, and Mr Blackbeard said no animals were killed as they managed to escape.

The park is home to giraffes, impalas, baboons, wild beasts and zebras, and the park is still not operational.

Mr Blackbeard noted that the park has close to 150 different species under their custody.

Asked if it was the first time to experience such an incident, he said it was not common but that recently they had one incident at Kumaga in the Boteti District where fire erupted in a park.

He explained that in most cases, fires were started by human beings for various reasons such as reckless disposal of lit cigarette stubs, improper disposal of household ash, children playing with matches and reckless disposal of empty bottles, adding that when it was extremely hot, the bottles do magnify and cause fire.

Mr Blackbeard appealed to the public to be careful when using fire, and also to understand that they had a role to play in the fight against veld fires. ENDS