05 Mar 2014

For the last three years Botswana has witnessed unprecedented levels of poaching and illicit trafficking of wildlife, director of wildlife and national parks, Dr Oduetse Koboto has said.

When officially opening World Wildlife Day in Tsabong, March 3, Dr Koboto said his department had recorded rising numbers of large cat smuggling across its borders by what he termed “unscrupulous individuals bent on enriching themselves at the expense of the nation’s wildlife heritage.”

He observed rhino and elephant species were severely threatened by incessant poaching. “Elephants in the northern part of the country are targeted by cross border poachers who are armed with weapons of war and who do not hesitate to engage our security forces to achieve their criminal objectives,” Dr Koboto said.

He noted other large herbivores were being poached for their meat and even more disturbing for commercial purposes.Dr Koboto said the international syndicates at the forefront of mass poaching and smuggling of animals throughout much of Africa did not engage in the actual killing and capture of wildlife themselves.

“Instead they make use of members of our communities to do the dirty work on their behalf for amounts of money that are a mere fraction of the billions of Pula that they ultimately reap from the illegal trade,” he said.

Dr Koboto warned they would not idly stand by and allow such heinous pratices to take root in Botswana. He said to curb these crimes, the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism had embarked on an active campaign to involve communities in the fight against wildlife crimes as special wildlife scouts.

The ministry also mobilises community volunteer clusters through Ipelegeng Programme while individuals engaged in the tourism industry were encouraged to assist in wildlife protection as honorary wildlife officers.

He said notwithstanding the challenges, considerable successes had been achieved in conserving wildlife populations in Botswana. Consequently, Botswana remained a sanctuary for a number of globally threatened species including the cheetah, wild dog and the wattled crane .

In his closing remarks, Member of Parliament for Kgalagadi South Mr John Toto thanked the Department of Wildlife and Tourism for their insightful information, saying it was much needed in his area. ENDS