Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana does not have plans to cull its large elephant population, but rather to allow communities to utilise them to generate tangible benefits.
Answering a question at Ntlo Ya Dikgosi on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Tourism, the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Talitha Monnakgotla said the ministry had developed and adopted an Elephant Management Plan outlining the strategy for managing elephants in the country.
Kgosi Sibangani Mosojane of the North East Region had asked the minister to apprise the House on the 8 000 elephants gifted to Angola and whether the elephants would not retrace their tracks back to Botswana.
Kgosi Mosojane also asked whether in the event of the retrace, the elephants would be culled to reduce their rising population and the human wildlife conflict.
Ms Monnakgotla said government had agreed to donate 8 000 elephants to Angola as part of its endeavour to reduce the elephant population in order to reduce the human-wildlife conflict.
She said the animals would be moved to an area with prime and pristine habitat, which would ensure that they inhabit the area permanently without migrating to other areas.
Ms Monnakgotla said unlike the Botswana semi-arid conditions, Angola had enough water and forage all year round.
However, Ms Monnakgotla said in the unlikely event that the elephants utilised the Kwando channel corridor between Botswana and Angola, it could facilitate opening up parts of their natural habitat and dispersal areas, which would reduce pressure in Botswana.
She said both countries were part of the KAZA Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) initiative, which sought to sustainably manage the Kavango-Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources.
DAILYNEWS
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