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Monday, 26 September 2011 | Issue: Vol.12 No.35

Jumbos Invade khwai village

Boniface Keakabetse
Correspondent

MAUN: Residents of Khwai, a Basarwa settlement near Moremi game reserve have to sleep as early as 6pm and not as soundly as you would expect because of the marauding elephants that roam their village every night.



Well-known methods such as chilli pepper have failed to deter the elephants which have destroyed the vegetation and in some instances damaged the villagers huts in their search for food.

When The Monitor visited the settlement last week, elephant presence was quite evident. There was the fresh scent of elephant dung and fallen trees lined up the streets blocking paths in the village. The trail of the devastation of vegetation extended all the way to the family compounds, where a fallen hut from the previous night told a sorry tale of cowering villagers who are clearly no match for these huge animals.

"From 5pm the elephants take over the village, they stay all night felling and feeding on any tree in the village.

This has been going on for weeks," said Fleshice Phalao, a resident. "As you can see all the vegetation has been destroyed," he added. Residents suspect that the elephants fled from hunters in the neighbouring wildlife concessions of Mababe and Sankoyo where hunting.

There has been no hunting in Khwai since the decision by the ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) to stop trophy hunting in concessions under communities through the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM).

All the remaining community trusts will switch to photographic tourism once their hunting lease agreements expire.

However there is fear that as hunting chases wildlife from human habited areas once it fully stops, the life of residents will be in danger of elephants.

MEWT has no elephant management strategy in place. Ngamiland has an estimated elephant population of 61,600 elephants according to the recent wildlife aerial survey carried by Elephant without Boarders.

Reacting to the concerns of Khwai residents at a kgotla meeting, Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila said the residents have no right to shoot dangerous animals unless the animals put their lives in danger. He was responding to the concerns of Khwai chief, Meraphe Amos who had complained of elephants and lions terrorising his village. Amos had said the residents may be forced to shoot the elephants and lions that are terrorising them.

I just finished reading Ivory's Ghosts last night and if there is any clear conclusion you can draw from the book, it is that how to deal with elephant populations in general is about in imperfect science as there is. With so much emotion tied to the issue it seems that a logical and workable solution for all those involved (either by their own volition or not,i.e. locals) is very far off.