Newsletter| “Here, you’re unlikely to find a family that has not had a loved one killed by an elephant, lion or other wild animal”: Botswana president considers culling elephants or revoking the ban on hunting as villagers battle to survive on their land
Villagers live ‘in hell’ with elephants, lions and hippos causing havoc on their land, writes Poloko Tau
Sitting on the veranda of his house in Satau village in northern Botswana, close to the Chobe River which marks the border with Namibia, the 59-year-old remembers lying on the ground engulfed in dust. “Many people in our villages have died tragically – trampled to death by elephants, mauled by lions or hit by buffaloes. I am lucky to be here and sharing my story with you.”Chobe is not fenced and animals roam freely in and out of its borders.
“I left crop farming after elephants, buffaloes and other animals like hippos had harassed us for years, feasting on our crops and flushing all our efforts down the drain,” he said. Abandoned houses on smallholdings nearby bear witness to how many have given up. The land of some of those who sold up has been turned into game lodges.
“It was also better when people would not be arrested for killing a wild animal but these days it’s like the animals were told that they are better protected than human beings. They do as they please, harass communities and eat our crops and we’re expected to starve because of them and make peace with it. Never.”
“This elephant was shot dead by a farmer after he found them eating his mealie fields. Wildlife people were called and they cut the tusks and left,” said Mompati Ntwumba, a young villager from Kavimba. “Surprisingly, and what is most unfair, is that if it is a hippo you get 300 pula per hectare and the explanation is that the damage is not the same. But for us, the point is we have had our food and livelihood taken away by animals.”
All the villagers agreed that the hunting ban, introduced by former president Ian Khama, should be lifted. Masisi said recently that Botswana was home to 130 000 elephants which was more than the country could handle. Of these, about 50 000 stray outside their designated areas. The government is in the process of debating whether to cull elephants, revoke the 2014 ban on hunting or try to keep the wildlife off villagers’ land.
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