{"id":37046,"date":"2023-10-24T18:29:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T18:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=37046"},"modified":"2023-10-24T17:12:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T17:12:22","slug":"botswana-govt-has-lost-the-battle-for-rhinos-against-poachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/botswana-govt-has-lost-the-battle-for-rhinos-against-poachers","title":{"rendered":"Botswana gov\u2019t has lost the battle for rhinos against poachers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The current administration does not want to have its conservation track record scrutinized. The truth though is that Botswana government is losing the war against poachers. The situation is worse when it comes to rhinos. Poachers have been on the rampage.<\/b><\/p>\n

So bad had the situation become that rhinos had to be moved away from their natural habitat cross the Okavango. But not before poachers brought down the numbers to endangered species level that we thought we would never see again. Botswana government needs to be more honest with itself and seriously try to come up with new ways to better protect the rhinos, especially. But also the wildlife in general.<\/p>\n

Rhino poachers have been spurred on by their gains so much so that they are now entering the Khama Rhino Sanctuary just outside Serowe, where rhinos are kept inside a fence. That is how audacious they have become.<\/p>\n

It is all because they now know they can get away with everything. It was not always like this. At a time of increased poaching, we need to assess just where it is that we went wrong. If poaching, especially of rhino persists at the current levels, Botswana\u2019s rhinos will be extinct in the next few years. There used to be a time when poachers were literally scared of descending on Botswana for their trade.<\/p>\n

That was because sufficient resources were allocated to anti-poaching efforts. Systematically resources have been cut and diverted away. There is also the issue of political will. Added to that is the fact that for those in leadership, conservation is not a top priority. There are topics around conservation that are today deemed out of bounds. Rhino poaching is one. This breeds a chilling effect on public servants. It also has an effect of increasing lack of transparency.<\/p>\n

For example today Botswana government leadership gets very prickly when asked just how many rhinos have been killed. Or just what their track record has been on rhino conservation. They deliberately convolute this matter with that of their nemesis, Ian Khama as a way of causing confusion. Or at the very least they throw about innuendos that former president Ian Khama, a conservationist of international repute might now have become a kingpin poacher, because as they put he often has pictures of killed rhinos -which he shares online \u2013 long before wildlife scouts can even arrive at the scenes.<\/p>\n

Ian Khama, we must never forget is now in exile in Johannesburg. It is a fact that an unprecedented number of rhinos has been poached since Mokgweetsi Masisi came in as president. The question is why. That spike in anti-poaching can very easily be traced to a rash decision to take away semi-automatic rifles from the Department of Wildlife game scouts. The decision was made as a pretext of The Rule of law.<\/p>\n

At the time president Masisi said he was going to come up with a law allowing those guns back. Five years on, that has still not happened. Professionals at the Department of Wildlife are now being willed to cast aspersions on Ian Khama\u2019s conservation track record, some of them just falling short of publicly hurling epithets at him. They know they are under protection. It seems there is not a prize on who among Batswana can insult Khama the most.<\/p>\n

This makes people to take their eyes off the ball. Botswana government is going through a learning curve. That experience is delayed by the fact that the civil service, which is the most important infrastructure in it all is being made to turn a blind to the unfolding tragedy and also tell lies on behalf of politicians.<\/p>\n

sundaystandard<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The current administration does not want to have its conservation track record scrutinized. The truth though is that Botswana government is losing the war against poachers. The situation is worse when it comes to rhinos. Poachers have been on the rampage. So bad had the situation become that rhinos had to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-37046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nBotswana gov\u2019t has lost the battle for rhinos against poachers - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The current administration does not want to have its conservation track record scrutinized. 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