20 May 2025

The Chairperson of the Botswana Guides Association (BOGA), Mr Kenson Kgaga, has implored the government to intensify efforts to address issues of human wildlife conflict in North West region.

Mr Kgaga said wildlife, especially elephants, continued to pose danger to people, particularly those living adjacent to the wildlife zones.

He made the remarks in an interview following an incident in which a member of BOGA was attacked and killed by an aggressive elephant on Sunday at Boro while gathering his donkeys.

The deceased whom Mr Kgaga described as an asset and loyal to the association, was the vice chairperson of the association’s sub-committee in the village and had been a member in good standing since the formation of the association in 1998.

He added: “As the association, we are deeply concerned with issues of human wildlife in our region specifically killings and attacks on residents which are becoming more frequent due to high elephant population. People are losing their lives every week while some are living in fear. Last week another person was attacked and killed by an elephant while at the ploughing fields.”

Mr Kgaga said the government should strike a balance to protect both people and wildlife, saying reduction of problematic of animals was crucial. 

He proposed that the government should consider donating some of the elephants to neighbouring countries and also increase hunting quotas issued to community trusts.

He said the government should also consider issuing hunting quotas to the NG35 trust to facilitate community benefits from hunting tourism. 

Various species including elephants, he said, were found in the area but the communities in villages affiliated to the trust were not benefiting anything unlike other trusts.

In the past, he said, it was rare to find animals in human settlements because of hunting. While he appreciated that the government made efforts to develop Human Wildlife Conflict Strategy aimed to prevent and mitigate conflicts by addressing root cause, Mr Kgaga called on the government to consider establishing another unit that will specifically focus on addressing issues of human wildlife conflict across the country and develop long term solutions.

Such unit, he said, should be well resourced so that officers could use frameworks that would help determine the severity of conflict and implement protection strategies like maintaining the buffalo fencing that separated wildlife from encroaching into villages.

“We are pinning our hopes on the new government to intervene and protect and save human lives by creating sustainable solutions that address the underlying causes of conflict and promote peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, an elderly, Mr Molaletsi of Maun, also concurred that the government should consider reducing wildlife population particularly elephants by selling them to other countries.

He said electrification of buffalo fence could also help citing that Kruger National Park has an electric fence which primarily protect the park and its wildlife. 

In the past, he said, it was rare to experience elephant attacks and killings because the animals stayed in their habitat (Okavango Delta) and there were humans but today, he said, conflict issues were many because the animals have moved from their habitat because of developments in tourism industry.

“In the past, hunting also played a key role in mitigating conflict but today wildlife population has increased and movement is free because the buffalo fence is down. 

They are moving from their habitat due to developments in the delta and encroaching into human settlements causing havoc resulting in people losing lives,” he added. ENDS