15 Jul 2025

There are currently no plans to reduce the number of elephants by culling.

Answering a question on behalf of the Minister of Tourism and Environment, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Major General Pius Mokgware told Parliament on Monday that over the years, a liberal elephant hunting quota was issued every year to address human-wildlife conflict and empower communities affected by the conflict in the Bobirwa and Tonota districts through the Mmadinare, Mapanda and Molema community trusts.

Maj. Gen Mokgware said furthermore, a citizen-hunting quota was issued to the North East and Tonota areas during the extended hunting season to facilitate elephant hunting during the cropping season. He said these complemented the normal extension and problem animal control activities undertaken by the ministry through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

The minister said the ministry of Environment and Tourism was assisting communities with constructing cluster fences to protect their fields against crop raiding elephants and such fences were also in Matopi, Matsiloje and Moroka.  He said government was currently working with community of Maitengwe to construct other filed cluster fences in the area. He said North East has a migrant population of elephants ranging from 50-70 elephants moving alongside the Botswana–Zimbabwe border villages of Matebeleland South province in Zimbabwe, the North East District and Sepako area.

He said Bobirwa and Tonota districts had an estimated elephants’ population of 1 800, which comprised of 500 elephants around Letsibogo, Dikgatlhong and Legothong near Tonota.

He said the elephants were migrants as they moved between Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Also, he said that the other sub-population of about 1 300 elephants were found in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, the Tuli Block Farms, Mabolwe, Semolale and Gobojango areas.

He was responding to a question from Tonota MP, Mr Gaefele Sedombo who asked the minister to state elephants statistics in the eastern part of Botswana and government plans regarding the human-wildlife conflict, that is if government had any intention to reduce the number of the elephants and how. ENDS