12 Jul 2020

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Dr Oduetse Koboto says by the end of this week his ministry will have established what could have led to the death of 281 elephants in the Okavango Delta.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Dr Koboto said his ministry received reports around May indicating that 67 elephants had died mysteriously. 

He said investigations were kick-started and they were able to verify 275 deaths. He added that six additional carcasses had been identified bringing the total number to 281.

He also noted that their  investigations were guided by experts such as the Elephant Management Plan, which provided extensive guidance on elephant diseases, surveillance and monitoring. He said the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security were also helpful. 

He noted that the legislative framework and the wildlife policy were recalled and gave more guidance. 

He said it was imperative to highlight that the policies were important documents which gave guidance on the current elephant mortalities.

Dr Koboto said they also recalled the national anti-poaching strategy because they had to investigate the scientific and the human elements to ensure that they did not leave anything that was critical.  

He said they also conducted forensic investigations which were based on human intervention. He added that they included Botswana Police Service, Botswana Defence Force and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services. 

He said his ministry also received reports from laboratories in Zimbabwe, which he said they were verifying to ensure that nothing critical that could need forensic investigation was left out. 

Dr Koboto revealed that in collecting the investigations, they were assisted by Caracal, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Kasane, which was helping to simulate the samples and transmit to Zimbabwe for testing while Eco-Exists, another NGO based in Seronga, was assisting in conducting surveys in northern Botswana. Ends