10 Feb 2014

Poaching is an evil practice that has far reaching consequences such as reduction in wildlife population or total extinction.

Speaking during the Botswana Wildlife Research Symposium in Maun recently, Mr Tim Blackbeard from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) said poaching was an economic security threat that should garner strict penalties.

He said the practice, if left unchecked, would bring great loss to Botswana more so that the country could not solely rely on diamonds that got depleted.

Mr Blackbeard beseeched all concerned parties to care for animals and make sure they were protected to curb the increasing cases of poaching in Botswana. Elephants, kudu, eland, gemsbok, rhino and impala’s were species most susceptible to poaching tendencies, he said.

He said they encounter subsistence poaching, commercial poaching and predator smuggling, which was more prominent in the Kalahari Transfrontier Park and its surroundings.

Furthermore, he cited that poaching in the South (Tuli Block and Kgalagadi) far outnumbers poaching in the North (Ngamiland and Chobe).

For his part, Dr Tico McNutt of Botswana Predator Conservation Trust said poaching begets collateral damage that often times was overlooked. He cited indiscriminate poisoning and uncontrolled bush fires, which often ensued when poachers destroyed evidence of their offence.

Dr McNutt said 122 animals were killed in 30 months, where 64 suspects were apprehended and yet there were no convictions. Poaching is driven by the fact that it is a lucrative commercial trade, he said.

However, he called for better management of the fence, enforcing existing legislature, renew and improve the legislation as well as develop broader concepts of ownership and derived benefits. ENDS