03 Aug 2020

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Ms Philda Kereng says her ministry is committed to empowering members of the Anti-Poaching Unit under Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

To realise this, Ms Kereng said her ministry would provide the unit with necessary resources and increase equipment including appropriate firearms. 

She said a legislation that would facilitate the process was being prepared and would be presented before the ongoing Parliament session.

Ms Kereng said poaching in the Okavango Delta and surrounding concessions was a concern to her ministry and their partners, saying  rhino poaching in the area had reached unprecedented levels with a total of 36 incidences between April 2018 and December 2019. 

She noted that 11 elephants were also poached during the same period.

She stated that her ministry, in collaboration with their partners, particularly the Botswana Defense Force and Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services, had deployed considerable resources in the Okavango Delta. 

She noted, however, that they  experienced a decline in the poaching of elephants, explaining that poachers turned their focus to rhinos due to the high demand for rhino horn in the Far East Asia.

Ms Kereng was responding to a parliamentary question from MP for Maun East, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile, who had asked her to update Parliament on the state of poaching in the Okavango Delta and North West concessions. 

He also sought for the number of rhinos and elephants poached between April 2018 and December 2019 as well as for the minister to state any intentions to change the law to arm wildlife officers on anti-poaching duties. Ends