16 Feb 2014

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Micus Chimbombi, recently urged farmers in Ngamiland District to devise ways of peacefully co-existing with wildlife.

Dr Chimbombi said the elephant-human conflict was a real challenge that Botswana had to deal with and advised farmers to come up with ways and means of managing such conflicts.

“We must all live harmoniously with our animals since they are a source of income for the country’s economy. All we have to do is to engage each other and see how best we can manage them,” said Dr Chimbombi.

He also advised farmers to further consult with the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. Also speaking at the meeting, chief wildlife officer for parks and game reserves, Mr Othusitse Botshabelo told residents that government would not relocate elephants from farming areas because the relocation exercise would be prohibitively expensive.

The farmers had proposed that government should relocate some of the elephants in Ngamiland to the Okavango Delta as a way of managing the human-elephant conflict.“Relocating one elephant would cost government over P200 000,” he said. Farmers have in the past raised concerns about the damage caused to their crops by elephants. 

They said erection of the buffalo fence came at great cost to government as it had to routinely repair the fence after it was destroyed by elephants. The farmers also requested government to return elephants back to the delta every time they encroached into the communal areas.

They also proposed that problematic elephants should be killed to reduce elephant population and save human lives. Mr Botshabelo also advised farmers to explore available ways to manage human-elephant conflict, especially since government had banned hunting indefinitely. Ends