14 Oct 2018

Residents of Chobe District have expressed support for the lifting of the hunting ban.

At a kgotla meeting facilitated by Messrs Kitso Mokaila and Bagalatia Arone, who are members of the cabinet sub-committee on hunting ban social dialogue in Kasane recently, one of the speakers, Kgosi Bafedile Lesoma said prior to the 2014 prohibition, cases of wild animals killing people were uncommon.

Kgosi Lesoma called for the reintroduction of controlled hunting in order to minimise human-wildlife conflict.

Expressing similar sentiments, Mr David Mbanga said hunting should not only benefit professional hunters but also residents of different villages.

Mr Mbanga suggested that a hunting quota awarded to Chobe District should be divided according to the number of villages to avoid disadvantaging others.

Another villager, Mr Edgar Moyo said revoking the hunting ban would help the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) to handle problem animals better as it was currently overwhelmed by the wildlife population.

Mr Moyo also asked for a review of the bird licence, saying it should be upgraded to the level of small game so that it could be open throughout the year.

For his part, Mr Sangwana Sangwana thanked government for the consultation, saying the public grieved that the decision to ban hunting was implemented without any discussion.

He proposed that Elephant Without Borders be banned from operating in Botswana, saying its recent allegations had hurt the country and impacted negatively on tourism.

Ms Chite Tshegane suggested that when hunting was reintroduced, the country should benchmark on countries such as China on the use of ivory so that wildlife could benefit all through the creation of employment opportunities.

Mr Edison Ramonkga noted that the hunting ban had resulted in the growth of the elephant population which in turn led to an increase in incidents of people killed by the animals.

He said since the imposition of the ban, 12 people have been killed by elephants.

Mr Ramonkga said consulting people through kgotla meetings was not enough, saying a referendum would have been better.

While supporting the lifting of the ban, Mr Poniso Shamukuni said government should strike a balance between photographic and hunting safaris to avoid affecting the country’s tourism industry.

He said the negative effects of elephants on the environment should also be taken into consideration, saying they fed on all types of trees leaving other species without nourishment.

Mr Shamukuni said all stakeholders should be consulted on the hunting ban to avoid making decisions that would cause chaos.

Responding, Mr Arone, who is Minister of Basic Education, explained that the law stipulated that animals posing any danger to people’s lives should be killed.

He said the purpose of the consultation was for people to have an input in the decision on the hunting ban.

Mr Arone explained that a referendum was the last consultative stage on constitutional matters, arguing that kgotla meetings were still appropriate.

On the issue of benchmarking in China, he explained that education would take care of the matter as a system of different pathways would be introduced in schools taking into account the skills and cultures of the learners.

Meanwhile, Mr Mokaila explained that the lifting of the hunting ban would not cause any conflict between photographic and hunting safaris as the latter was seasonal and the former perennial.

Mr Mokaila also said hunting would be for trophy in unproductive animals.

Giving a vote of thanks, Chobe District Council chairperson, Mr Paul Chabaesele thanked President Mokgweetsi Masisi for finding it fit to consult Batswana on the hunting ban and appointing ministers conversant with human-wildlife conflict into the sub-committee. ENDS