17 Feb 2019

Consistant maintenance of cordon fence is essential to the control of infectious diseases.

Central District veterinary officer, Dr Jaone Sebina, said in an interview that failure to maintain the fence would lead to an increased likelihood of direct contact of wild animals and livestock.

Dr Sebina indicated that government erected veterinary cordon fences to prevent disease transmission from wildlife to livestock, adding that this proved to be one of the best solutions in managing the spread of diseases.

“The country has made great strides in the control of the highly contagious diseases over the years, mainly through systems of elaborate networks of veterinary fences,” he said.

Dr Sebina said the frequency of fence damage caused by elephants increased partly due to drought.

“In light of increased frequency and intensity of droughts expected under a changing climate in Botswana, such increased direct contacts between domestic and wild animals could be expected as more and more animals gather around fewer water points and shrinking grazing lands’’, he said.

He pointed out that the fence between some zones and the Botswana/Zimbabwe border was maintained continuously.

But “due to intensive elephant challenge, it might appear as if the fence is not being maintained,’’ Dr Sebina noted. ENDS