Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

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Re: Elephant poaching on the increase in Botswana

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After elephant killings, Botswana mulls lifting hunting ban

2018-09-12 21:22 AFP

Botswana launched a review on Wednesday of a 2014 hunting ban imposed to reverse a decline in elephants and other wildlife.

The prohibition on big game sports hunting was the work of ex-president Ian Khama, a keen conservationist, to shield species decimated by hunting and habitat loss.

But lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic party have been lobbying to overturn the ban, especially on elephant hunting, saying populations have become unmanageably large in parts - placing the animals on a collision course with humans.

Khama's successor, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, launched a month of nationwide consultations on Wednesday that could ring in the end of the ban.

Consultations with different interest groups, in the tourism hub of Maun, "commence this afternoon," Rural Development Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi told AFP.

"President Masisi is scheduled to meet researchers. Tomorrow he will address a kgotla (traditional gathering)."

The review comes five months after Khama relinquished power to Masisi, and just days after a wildlife charity said about 90 elephants were slaughtered for their tusks in Botswana in recent months.

Masisi's government rejected Elephants Without Borders' claims of a pachyderm massacre.

With its unfenced parks and wide open spaces, landlocked Botswana has the largest elephant population in Africa, at over 135 000.

The number of elephants on the continent has fallen by around 111 000 to 415 000 in the past decade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).


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Re: Elephant poaching on the increase in Botswana

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Botswana’s elephant poaching crisis under scrutiny
BY LOUISE DE WAAL - 25 SEPTEMBER 2018 - IOL -

Reports of elephant poaching in Botswana are under the spotlight with various claims in national and international media that the current adverse situation is driven by anti-poaching budget cuts, disarming of anti-poaching units, poachers being spoilt for choice with wildlife finding a safe-haven in the country, and even the trophy hunting ban.

There is no doubt that these factors play some part in the rising elephant poaching incidents in Botswana. However, wildlife poaching, and in particular the poaching of elephants, is not unique to Botswana and has significantly reduced elephant populations across the African continent.

In 2014, conservationists raised concerns that the poaching syndicates decimating the East and Central African elephant populations, would move further south making southern Africa their next target.

At that time, Elephants Without Border (EWB) noted increased poaching incidents in northern Botswana, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, southeast Angola, and Zambia during their aerial wildlife surveys.

Botswana’s elephant population has however been stable for the last 15 years at around 130 000, which is testament to the country’s excellent conservation record.

Nevertheless, the number of poaching incidents has been on the increase, which was confirmed by the 87 elephant carcasses recorded during the ongoing EWB aerial wildlife survey that started in July this year.

The Botswana government disagrees with these recorded poaching incidents and requested a report from the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism on the extent of the recent elephant killings.

Dr Unity Dow (Botswana Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation) stated in a press conference in Gaborone earlier this week that the report was expected “to shed light on the major causes of death regarding the alleged massacre and assist government on making an informed decision on how best to clear the confusion and set the record straight”.

No further announcements on the report have been made by the Botswana government so far.

Recent media claims that this could be directly attributed to the disarming of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) anti-poaching unit of automatic weapons is nebulous.

This relatively small DWNP team is still armed with rifles and has always been and still is supported by a much larger and fully armed anti-poaching units from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).

In a media statement, Thato Y. Raphaka (Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism) said “that withdrawing weapons from DWNP is in line with the existing legislation, which does not allow the DWNP to own such weapons”.

Dr Dow added in the press conference that “the call should have been to expand the army, making sure there are more army officers to ensure greater safety against poaching instead of calling to rearm the DWNP”.

However Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama, believes that “there is no doubt the disarming of the Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) could have contributed to the high rates of poaching in the Chobe area”.

The safari tourism industry plays a vital role in Botswana’s economy, nature conservation and community development, and the country has always been a leader in eco-tourism. Many safari operators provide regular on the ground intelligence to the DWNP.

The industry will however need to step up to the task in assisting the BDF and the DWNP in their anti-poaching efforts to counter the poaching tsunami that has started to target Southern Africa’s great elephant herds.

Examples of this are emerging in northern Botswana, where a poaching awareness group made up from a number of competing, but concerned safari operators and concessionaires has been established by the private sector to assist the authorities more effectively.

Derek de la Harpe (Commercial Director – Wilderness Safaris) says “although we do not have authority to conduct any law enforcement operations, we will continue to cooperate with the responsible authorities and to provide any support that they feel is appropriate, if and when incidents do occur”.

Some stakeholders believe that Botswana needs the political will to (re-)allocate vacant concessions in Ngamiland, around the Okavango Delta and along the boundaries of Chobe National Park, which could aid in curbing the surge in wildlife poaching.

“Some of these more remote, marginal concessions would require a new type of non-consumptive wildlife tourism operation. And with vision, time and money they could potentially work for self-drive routes, mobile safaris, waterhole wildlife viewing and for tourists who looking for space – the new luxury in today’s busy world”, says Colin Bell (Director – Natural Selection).

The development of now vacant concessions would not only bring additional tourism revenue for the Botswana government through VAT and resources royalty payments, but would also create employment for local communities. In terms of the poaching crisis, it would mean more eyes and ears on the ground and traversing safari vehicles in large areas currently devoid of people, where poachers now have free rein.

Ian Michler (Co-Founder and Director – Invent Africa Safaris) says “it would seem that Botswana, along with Kruger in South Africa is now being targeted. It will be a fatal mistake if we hide from the early warning signs being collected in the field.”

One of these early warning signs seems to be a worrying trend in Botswana’s elephant poaching incidents, where the vast majority of the casualties are large 70+ pound ivory bulls that are seemingly being tracked and shot to order by the criminal syndicates.

“We have seen how effective responses from governments and the tourism and conservation sectors working together can have significant impacts. Kenya is a great example and look at what organizations such as African Parks and the PAMS Foundation have achieved. If any country is going to be able to stem poaching, it should be Botswana as they have a great conservation record, a vibrant ecotourism sector and to date, a willing and committed government”, Michler concludes.

Read original article: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/bots ... y-17216246


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Re: Elephant poaching on the increase in Botswana

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Botswana elephant poaching debate: Wildlife vet speaks his mind

Image

Opinion post written by Dr FJ (Erik) Verreynne – a wildlife and livestock vet with a post-graduate wildlife management degree, who has been practising in Botswana since 2002.

Driving on the white gravel road from Seronga, past Eretsha, Betsa and Gudigwa, to the village of Gunostoga in the northwest of Botswana marks the boundary between the flood plains of NG12 to the south and the dry mopane veld of NG11 and NG13 in the north. The Namibian border is roughly 80km to the north. To the north from here, along the Caprivi strip, is one of the areas reported to contain the so-called strewn carcasses of the many poached elephants.

There is no better area to seek perspective on the BBC article where Elephants without Borders raised the alarm on a large numbers of elephants being poached in Botswana.

Image
Gravel road to Gunotsoga in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

The gravel road connecting the area is here because the people are here. And the people are here because the water and the floodplains are here. And so are the wildlife. It has been like this for many years, long before the areas to the south and east were re-classified as photographic safari areas. Long before local people were stopped from hunting or herding their cattle to the apple leaf sandy ridges to the south.

People were and are still working their fields in the wet season, or herding their cattle on the floodplains during the dry season. They are fishing from mokoros and harvesting reeds for building shelters and houses.

Image
Cattle herd in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

The elephants have always been here, mixing with people and other wildlife and taking chances with raiding crops. But they were perceived as much less of a menace then, reportedly because they were fewer in number. In general people got by without major issues and life at large was peaceful. NG12 was a controlled hunting area, and elephants and other wildlife were hunted in a controlled manner, supervised by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, while communities benefited either directly or indirectly by means of employment, money or meat.

The nearby open international borders posed a poaching threat and the Botswana Defence Force was deployed along the border after two recent episodes of near total extinction of rhinos by poachers.

Image
Botswana landscape
© Erik Verreynne

It all changed a few years ago when the hunting of elephant and other wildlife in the area was banned. The ban was put in place after little consultation, motivated by blaming dwindling wildlife numbers on overhunting with no tangible evidence of real cause. Hunting concessions were then converted into photographic safari concessions.

Photographic tourism was subsequently greatly promoted, and labelling Botswana as a safe haven for elephants and rhinos was at the core of the tourism marketing drive. Elephant population numbers were manipulated and inflated to as much as 200,000 to celebrate the conservation success and to lure more people. Tourism, as one of the main earners of foreign exchange, grew tremendously and surpassed agriculture as part of the GDP, while the influx of elephants resulted in dispersal all over Botswana, causing widespread human-wildlife conflict and vegetation damage, and placed enormous strain on Botswana’s compensation and anti-poaching resources.

To achieve greater control over the nature-based tourism growth process, wildlife resources were centralised, and local responsibilities and benefits were largely taken away from the communities. The benefits of tourism only benefited a few large companies, leaving the communities behind with the stark reality of the shear number of elephants (and predator conflict). While the world was celebrating Botswana tourism stakeholders with rewards and accolades, the picture in rural Botswana looked quite different – that of locals paying a high price.

Image
Elephant damage to a tree in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

So here is part of that dark picture. This remote area, that Thalefang Charles refers to as “Overseas”, has about 16,000 people and 18,000 elephants. More than 16,000 cattle graze the floodplain between Seronga and Gudigwa. Small settlements dot the area between the villages all along the road, on the floodplains and into the dry north.

Image
Elephant corridor sign in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

As you drive along the road, signs by a conservation NGO indicate the elephant corridors that the elephants use to reach the water on the floodplain. This is to prevent future development, but does not safeguard the houses and fields already established in the way of the ever increasing elephant herds.

To some extent, these signs are rather ironic. The short stunted mopane shrubs strewn with skeletons of large trees interspersed with well-worn elephant paths and heaps of elephant dung where they cross the road, is stating the obvious.

Image
Stripped vegetation due to elephants in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

As the rain-filled waterholes in the north are drying up, the elephant herds need to walk south to the floodplains to drink every day, not only intensifying the human-wildlife conflict, but causing an ever radiating devastation to the vegetation which is now also starting to affect the large trees on the islands of the floodplains.

They arrive at dusk and leave again at dawn, preventing human movement in the dark. Where it used to be only elephant bulls hanging around on the floodplains during the day, now some cow herds do not leave, staying close to villages and preventing free movement of people from working their fields or tending to their livestock – even during the daylight hours. For not only water, but also browse is getting scarce in the north. And the crop raiding during the rainy season has escalated and some people have stopped planting.

Image
Vultures eating elephant carcass in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

Close to the road on the floodplain near the village of Gunotsoga lies the carcass of a female elephant, with vultures cleaning the hollows in her skull where her tusks have been removed. This is the matriarch of a small herd. She killed an old man on the road three weeks ago. He left on foot for the village from his settlement at about six in the morning but never goth there. His mutilated body was found next to the road by a passerby, with the story written in the sand – a tale of unprovoked fury by the cow elephant.

She must have been enraged by a very bad experience with people. She charged at him from nearly 80 metres away, tusking and tossing him several times before rejoining her herd far on the opposite side of the road. She was shot by an officer of the Department the same day, and the tusks removed for safe keeping. The community was furious about the killing of the old man, and two other elephants were apparently killed shortly after by community members in retaliation, the bodies left with the tusks intact…

Image
Rural village in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

So back to the BBC article and the pure hate and condemnation it has provoked from some circles. Allow me some perspective while remembering the souls of the old man and the elephant matriarch, and so many old men and elephants in villages all over the north of Botswana. No good will come from their deaths if it based on lies.

Firstly, the anti-poaching units were never disarmed. Their military weapons were removed as it is against the law in Botswana and they are already assisted by the Botswana Defence Force which is suitably armed and equipped. The APU’S still have their semi-automatic weapons. So blaming the poaching on the “deweaponising” of the law enforcement agencies is not factual or logical.

The areas in question are close to the Namibian border, and away from the core areas usually covered by the APU’s where a number of Defence Force Units are already deployed. Despite the presence of these units, the alleged killing of such large numbers of elephants in such a short period of time was not noticed. Some areas involved are prone to anthrax-related mortalities. As such the spatial and time scale claims, and the cause of mortality as claimed by the BBC report, are to be questioned.

Furthermore, the statement that the scale of poaching recorded by EWB was not witnessed before, seems sensation driven since East Africa lost 30,000 elephants per year (80 per day) not so long ago.

Image
Elephant in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

Botswana does not approve of poaching on any scale. Our past track record is proof of that. But Botswana as a safe haven is a marketing stunt. It does not exist and will never exist because no such haven country exists anywhere in Africa.

With the number of elephants in Botswana, the scale of human-elephant conflict, the geographical challenges and the regional onslaught, it is inevitable that we will experience a degree of poaching. And poaching will most likely increase. But with an annual elephant population increase of 5%, on 154,000 elephants in Botswana, even the BBC reported poaching rate is insignificant and will not threaten elephants as a species in Botswana. To hold Botswana responsible for the conservation of the whole African elephant population is unfair.

No international vocalisation will reduce the scale of the poaching in Botswana. Poachers do not read newspapers or Facebook. It is our responsibility and we are not afraid to take it on. That also include admitting when things are not working.

The previous exclusive conservation policy has now been proven to be disastrous and very expensive to our national budget. Not only the elephants, but also people and other species like the rhinos in the Delta are in jeopardy.

Image
Tree damage due to elephants in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

Change is imperative and you need to give us that chance.

We need to shift the emphasis of our poaching mitigation in Botswana away from our ability to arm our APU’s or to ban hunting, or even on the size of the tourism industry. We need to base it on our ability to restore a safe and stable rural, political and economical environment combined with pragmatic conservation measures where local communities are part and parcel of the responsibilities and benefits of sustainable conservation.

We also need to redefine co-existence – not to fulfil a western conservation doctrine, but to include a workable definition based on sustainability for communities and wildlife.

Culling the elephants is not a solution due to the numbers involved. As such the proposed lifting of the hunting ban will not negatively affect the numbers. The annual elephant trophy hunting quota for Botswana never exceeded 400 animals per year, complimented by a small number of citizen hunting licenses. But hunting may provide a fast track to tangible benefits for the hardest hit communities, until a better sustainable solution can be established. And hunting in hot spot conflict areas may induce elephant movement out of those areas, as has happened in neighbouring range states (to our detriment).

Image
Cattle in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne

Additionally we need to shift emphasis of our tourism marketing drives.

For too long we have built our nature-based tourism industry on a false illusion of “pristineness” that excludes any signs of human existence. It is these illusions that allow for the current hype of emotions based on misleading reporting. The wilderness areas in Africa were never without people and will never be without people. By excluding people, and allowing elephant numbers to get out of hand in Botswana, we are running the risk of losing more elephants and other wildlife through the conflict, poaching and starvation than are sacrificed through hunting. And I dare not imagine the cruelty that goes with that scenario.

At the same time we should educate tourists to accept that people and livestock are part of the environment, and the safari experience that they are paying for.

Our President needs support in his conservation approach. He does not deserve the condemnation that followed the BBC article. If any are to be blamed, then perhaps look at neighbouring elephant range countries and their lack of taking responsibility for their own elephants.

It is the right of Batswana to live in a safe environment. It is embedded in our Constitution, as it is in most countries’ Constitutions. And to impose measures that we can afford. Only when we are feeling safe and secure will we be able to conserve our rich wildlife heritage. And for now we are threatened by our own success.

Give us some room? Change is never without pain. Especially to those who benefited most in the past.

Image
Elephant feeding in Botswana
© Erik Verreynne


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Re: Elephant poaching on the increase in Botswana

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Confusion over Botswana’s elephant population

BY LOUISE DE WAAL - 27 NOVEMBER 2018 - IOL -

Image
The Rise of the Matriarch expedition saw an all-women team of eco-warriors visiting women-headed conservation initiatives in four countries. One of the highlights for the team was interacting with rescued elephants at the Wild Is Life sanctuary in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Botswana’s parliament recently passed a motion considering lifting the ban on elephant trophy hunting, citing an increase in both the elephant population and human-elephant conflict (HEC) as their motives.

In the ensuing debate, unsubstantiated facts and figures concerning Botswana’s elephant population are used to support the hunting agenda. Many of these statistics have no scientific basis, so let’s debunk some of those figures.

What is the true size of Botswana’s elephant population?

Over the last few months, politicians have quoted the Botswana elephant population as large as 237,000.

However, the African Elephant Status Report (AESR) estimates Botswana’s elephant population to be 131,626 individuals migrating across an area of 228,073 square kilometres. The vast majority of these elephants occur in the northern region that includes Chobe, Moremi, and the Okavango Delta.

This makes Botswana’s elephant population the single largest in Africa, supporting approximately 30% of the continent’s entire wild population, which is believed to be in the order of 415,000.

One of the reasons why there is disagreement over Botswana’s elephant population size is the fact that these animals form part of one large freely migrating population of an estimated 216,000 individuals. These animals regularly cross borders between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, moving within an area of 440,000 square kilometres called the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

According to the African Elephant Specialist Group, a coordinated cross-border survey would be the only way to get more precise population numbers. Until then, Botswana’s approximate 130,000 elephants is our best estimate.

The African Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) produced the AESR in 2016 and is considered the most up-to-date and comprehensive document on the status of the African elephant in the wild across its entire range.

Is Botswana’s elephant population increasing?

The perceived ever-increasing elephant population is a driver for reconsidering the hunting ban, but is the population growing?

According to AESR, Botswana’s elephant population actually declined by 15% in the preceding 10 years. This decrease is not as dramatic as across most of Africa and is a testimony to the country’s solid conservation policies.

Over the last decade, losses of at least 110,000 elephants or 30% of its entire population have been reported across the African continent.

The cause of this decline is mostly due to the poaching crisis, triggered by the demand for ivory in East Asia. Although Tanzania suffered the largest losses (60%), poaching has also severely affected populations in Southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique.

How many elephants are too many?

This is the million-dollar question, to which end the carrying capacity of elephants is often seen as a magic number that an area can support without detrimental ecological change.

Politicians often quote a carrying capacity for Botswana of 50,000 elephants (i.e. 0.2 elephants per km2) and even claim there are 7-8 times too many elephants.

“There is no scientific basis for the declaration that 50,000 elephants is the “correct” number for Botswana; it is an arbitrary figure”, says Keith Lindsay, a conservation biologist working with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

A carrying capacity of around 0.4 elephants per km squared is widely used. Botswana with a range area of up to 260,000 km squared in wet season and its current 130,000 elephants therefore falls more or less within this “acceptable” range.

However, “the application of the term carrying capacity for elephants in Botswana – or indeed anywhere else – is a carry-over from commercial livestock farming that has no real meaning in highly variable African ecosystems”, Lindsay continues.

This much quoted carrying capacity of 0.4 elephants per square km comes from an outdated “Hwange Game Reserve management policy that had no scientific basis”, says Ian McDonald (lecturer in wildlife management).

Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC)

There is an unsubstantiated perception in Botswana that HEC is on the increase and the eastern Okavango Panhandle is often used to illustrate this point.

This is an area where approximately 16,000 people share living space with 11,000 elephants. Yet studies conducted in this area show that, even though elephants cause damage, they are seen as an intrinsic part of Botswana’s natural heritage.

Studies have also shown that elephant and human population densities are not significant drivers of HEC, but rather land-use and competition for resources.

Botswana’s elephants have expanded their range by 35% and are repopulating historic ranges, where elephants have not been seen for 50 years.

There is unfortunately no one-size fits all solution for complex situations involving people, wildlife and economics. All these statistics for example do not provide a solution for HEC, which is very real for the people competing on a daily basis for water, food and space with Botswana’s large population of free-roaming elephants.

Hunting quotas as a management tool

Over the 10 years prior to the hunting ban in 2014, Botswana’s CITES annual export quota was between 420 and 800 elephants. This resulted in an average of 341 import and 321 export CITES permits issued annually.

Hunting quotas of these levels would have little to no impact on the elephant population size and trophy hunting therefore cannot be considered an effective management tool.

Lindsay adds, “trophy hunting cannot or should not have much effect on local elephant densities, otherwise the trophy-sized animals will not be there for the hunters to shoot. So, it [trophy hunting]does not have any direct effect on reducing HEC”.

Some of the widely accepted and necessary interventions to reduce HEC include education and awareness around elephants, understanding and identifying elephant migration corridors, rapid response to HEC, allocation of agricultural plots in appropriate areas, and promotion of eco-tourism ventures.

It is important to note that Botswana should not need to carry the burden of this large but vital elephant population on its own. Neighbouring range states should be part of the long-term solutions with trans-frontier protection and connectivity of ecosystems, to allow the continued natural dispersal of herds within KAZA TFCA.

Read original article: https://www.iol.co.za/ios/opinion/confu ... n-18283610


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Re: Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

Post by Lisbeth »

Confusion over Botswana’s elephant population

BY LOUISE DE WAAL - 27 NOVEMBER 2018 - IOL

Image
The Rise of the Matriarch expedition saw an all-women team of eco-warriors visiting women-headed conservation initiatives in four countries. One of the highlights for the team was interacting with rescued elephants at the Wild Is Life sanctuary in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Botswana’s parliament recently passed a motion considering lifting the ban on elephant trophy hunting, citing an increase in both the elephant population and human-elephant conflict (HEC) as their motives.

In the ensuing debate, unsubstantiated facts and figures concerning Botswana’s elephant population are used to support the hunting agenda. Many of these statistics have no scientific basis, so let’s debunk some of those figures.

What is the true size of Botswana’s elephant population?

Over the last few months, politicians have quoted the Botswana elephant population as large as 237,000.

However the African Elephant Status Report (AESR) estimates Botswana’s elephant population to be 131,626 individuals migrating across an area of 228,073 square kilometres. The vast majority of these elephants occur in the northern region that includes Chobe, Moremi, and the Okavango Delta.

This makes Botswana’s elephant population the single largest in Africa, supporting approximately 30% of the continent’s entire wild population, which is believed to be in the order of 415,000.

One of the reasons why there is disagreement over Botswana’s elephant population size is the fact that these animals form part of one large freely migrating population of an estimated 216,000 individuals. These animals regularly cross borders between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, moving within an area of 440,000 square kilometres called the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

According to the African Elephant Specialist Group, a coordinated cross-border survey would be the only way to get more precise population numbers. Until then, Botswana’s approximate 130,000 elephants is our best estimate.

The African Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) produced the AESR in 2016 and is considered the most up-to-date and comprehensive document on the status of the African elephant in the wild across its entire range.

Is Botswana’s elephant population increasing?

The perceived ever-increasing elephant population is a driver for reconsidering the hunting ban, but is the population growing?

According to AESR, Botswana’s elephant population actually declined by 15% in the preceding 10 years. This decrease is not as dramatic as across most of Africa and is testimony to the country’s solid conservation policies.

Over the last decade, losses of at least 110,000 elephants or 30% of its entire population have been reported across the African continent.

The cause of this decline is mostly due to the poaching crisis, triggered by the demand for ivory in East Asia. Although Tanzania suffered the largest losses (60%), poaching has also severely affected populations in Southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique.

How many elephants are too many?

This is the million-dollar question, to which end the carrying capacity of elephants is often seen as a magic number that an area can support without detrimental ecological change.

Politicians often quote a carrying capacity for Botswana of 50,000 elephants (i.e. 0.2 elephants per km2) and even claim there are 7-8 times too many elephants.

“There is no scientific basis for the declaration that 50,000 elephants is the “correct” number for Botswana; it is an arbitrary figure”, says Keith Lindsay, conservation biologist working with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

A carrying capacity of around 0.4 elephants per km squared is widely used. Botswana with a range area of up to 260,000 km squared in wet season and its current 130,000 elephants therefore falls more or less within this “acceptable” range.

However, “the application of the term carrying capacity for elephants in Botswana – or indeed anywhere else – is a carry-over from commercial livestock farming that has no real meaning in highly variable African ecosystems”, Lindsay continues.

This much quoted carrying capacity of 0.4 elephants per square km comes from an outdated “Hwange Game Reserve management policy that had no scientific basis”, says Ian McDonald (lecturer in wildlife management).

Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC)

There is an unsubstantiated perception in Botswana that HEC is on the increase and the eastern Okavango Panhandle is often used to illustrate this point.

This is an area where approximately 16,000 people share living space with 11,000 elephants. Yet studies conducted in this area show that, even though elephants cause damage, they are seen as an intrinsic part of Botswana’s natural heritage.

Studies have also shown that elephant and human population densities are not significant drivers of HEC, but rather land-use and competition for resources.

Botswana’s elephants have expanded their range by 35% and are repopulating historic ranges, where elephants have not been seen for 50 years.

There is unfortunately no one-size fits all solution for complex situations involving people, wildlife and economics. All these statistics for example do not provide a solution for HEC, which is very real for the people competing on a daily basis for water, food and space with Botswana’s large population of free-roaming elephants.

Hunting quotas as a management tool

Over the 10 years prior to the hunting ban in 2014, Botswana’s CITES annual export quota was between 420 and 800 elephants. This resulted in an average of 341 import and 321 export CITES permits issued annually.

Hunting quotas of these levels would have little to no impact on the elephant population size and trophy hunting therefore cannot be considered an effective management tool.

Lindsay adds, “trophy hunting cannot or should not have much effect on local elephant densities, otherwise the trophy-sized animals will not be there for the hunters to shoot. So, it [trophy hunting]does not have any direct effect on reducing HEC”.

Some of the widely accepted and necessary interventions to reduce HEC include education and awareness around elephants, understanding and identifying elephant migration corridors, rapid response to HEC, allocation of agricultural plots in appropriate areas, and promotion of eco-tourism ventures.

It is important to note that Botswana should not need to carry the burden of this large but vital elephant population on its own. Neighbouring range states should be part of the long-term solutions with trans-frontier protection and connectivity of ecosystems, to allow the continued natural dispersal of herds within KAZA TFCA.

Read original article: https://www.iol.co.za/ios/opinion/confu ... n-18283610


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Re: Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

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Hunting ban in Botswana should be lifted says government committee, and elephants culled

Posted on 22 February, 2019 by News Desk in Hunting, News, Wildlife and the News Desk post series

A report submitted by a Botswana government sub committee has proposed that the ban on hunting should be lifted and the hunting industry grown, that elephants should be culled and the meat processed, some animal migration routes closed and human-wildlife conflict strategies implemented.

The report was officially handed over to President Mokgweetsi Masisi at a briefing on Thursday. The sub committee, made up of seven cabinet ministers and one junior minister, have been consulting with researchers and hunters as well as attending weeks of public hearings on the elephant hunting ban, which was introduced in 2014 by the previous administration.

The report and its recommendations will now be debated by the President and the cabinet, before becoming law.

See the full press release below.
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Sourced from the Botswana Government Facebook page

HANDOVER NOTES OF THE CABINET SUB COMMITTEE ON HUNTING BAN SOCIAL DIALOGUE REPORT BY HON FRANS VAN DER WESTHUIZEN MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (21/2/19) [FULL TEXT]

Salutations

1. It is my pleasure to officially handover a report of the Cabinet Sub Committee on Hunting Ban Social Dialogue to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Botswana, Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi.

2. I wish to highlight that the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, pursuant to Statutory Instrument no. 2 of 2014, took a decision to stop hunting of wildlife in all areas of Botswana effective January 2014.

3. Your Excellency, the hunting ban has become a subject for discussion in the country because of its apparent experience and observed consequences, with two schools of thought on the debate;

• Proponents of the hunting ban postulate that it is a good and noble conservation effort which will create a conducive environment for increased wildlife populations, and;
• Those against the hunting ban are of the view that hunting is a good wildlife management tool if properly implemented.

4. They maintain that if and when wildlife populations and human livelihoods are taken into consideration, this would translate to communities becoming good conservationists. It was also observed that as communities realise the potential value and associated income to be derived from wildlife resources and related activities, they will be converted to be good conservationists as opposed to concentrating on negative aspects of property destruction and loss of human lives caused by wildlife.

5. It is on the basis of the above that in June 2018 His Excellency the President established “The Hunting Ban Sub Committee of Cabinet” to kick-start a social dialogue aimed at reviewing the ban on hunting. The Cabinet Membership of this Committee is as follows;

• Minister of Local Government and Rural Development- Chairperson
• Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism
• Minister of Transport and Communications
• Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development
• Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development
• Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security
• Minister of Basic Education
• Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration

6. Your Excellency, this is a Consultation Report as assigned, it therefore embodies communication between those consulting and those consulted on the identified problem: The Hunting Ban. The report covers the consultation outline, opinions of those consulted, conclusions and the recommendations.

7. It is essential to note that the consultations covered Kgotla meetings, Full Council meetings as per Appendix 1 (page 33), submission of papers and meetings with individuals and private entities at different forums outside the kgotla. Those entities consulted include Elephants Without Borders, Community Trusts such as KALEPA-Kazungula, Lesoma, Pandamatenga, CECT-Chobe West as well as the NGO Council, Botswana Wildlife Producers Association and individuals including Richard White, Mark Kyriacou and Richard Pascall of Bartrek Ranch in Tsabong.

8. Your Excellency, the Terms of Reference as clearly highlighted on Page 4 of this report guided the process of consultation.

9. From the submissions made by the communities and other stakeholders, the Committee as assigned by Your Excellency found it necessary to propose the following recommendations, stated here in summary form.

• Hunting ban to be lifted.
• Develop a legal framework that will create an enabling environment for the growth of the safari hunting industry.
• Manage Botswana elephant population within its historic range
• Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) should undertake an effective community outreach program within the elephant range for Human-Elephant Conflict mitigation
• Strategically placed human-wildlife conflict fences to be constructed in key hotspot areas
• Game ranches to be demarcated to serve as buffers between communal and wildlife areas.
• Compensation for damage caused by wildlife, ex gratia amounts and the list of species that attract compensation be reviewed. In addition, other models that alleviate the compensation burden on Government be considered.
• All wildlife migratory routes that are not beneficial to the country’s conservation efforts be closed.
• The Kgalagadi southwesterly antelope migratory route into South Africa should be closed by demarcating game ranches between the communal areas and Kgalagadi Wildlife Management Areas.
• Regular but limited elephant culling be introduced and the establishment of elephant meat canning, including a production of pet food and processing into other by-products.

10. Your Excellency, with these few remarks I hereby officially handover the Report of the Cabinet Sub Committee on Hunting Ban Social Dialogue to you.

I thank you Sir.


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Re: Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

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Re: Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

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It is a very tricky and delicate problem :yes:


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Re: Elephant Poaching, Census and Management in Botswana

Post by Lisbeth »

Always difficult to be sure who to trust ( O** ) but I do not think that it is the moment to start culling elephants :no:


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