'Jumbos' to be auctioned

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks is to auction 27 elephants this month, Head of Multilateral Environment Agreements, Diana Chimidza, announced in Gaborone yesterday.


From Mmegi online March 2, 2011

The public auction takes place on March 24 and will be exclusive to Botswana registered companies, she said.She explained that the elephants would come from controlled hunting areas CT4, CT7 in Central District and NG8, NG9 and NG35 in Ngamiland. "There will be five elephants in CT4, six in CT7, six in NG8, five in NG9, and five again in NG35," she said. Chimidza advised companies that wish to participate in the auction to register with CITES management authority of Botswana at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks before March 11. Pre-qualification conditions and venue can be obtained from the CITES offices during registration. Bidders are expected to pay P500 non-refundable deposit while successful bidders will be required to pay for all the purchased elephants within 48 hours from the date of sale. She said that successful companies would be permitted to resell the jumbos to eligible clients and that Botswana registered professionals hunters will guide all hunts. Chimidza said that last year, they raised P1.1 million from auctioning 18 elephants, indicating that elephants that are auctioned are from human-elephant conflict areas. "So we want to make income from auctioning them while at the same time trying to control their population," she said. She revealed that from the nationwide survey conducted in 2006, there currently are more than 151 elephants (for auction) nationwide. However, a fresh auction is expected to be conducted in the near future.

Thank you for posting.

They should have added three zeroes to the number to be auctioned!

If my math is correct, and the pula today actually was being traded at 6.61 to one U.S. dollar, those 18 elephants they auctioned last year sold for an average of U.S. $9,245.25 each. Interesting.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
If my math is correct, and the pula today actually was being traded at 6.61 to one U.S. dollar, those 18 elephants they auctioned last year sold for an average of U.S. $9,245.25 each. Interesting.

Bill Quimby

I'll take three.

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
If my math is correct, and the pula today actually was being traded at 6.61 to one U.S. dollar, those 18 elephants they auctioned last year sold for an average of U.S. $9,245.25 each. Interesting.

Bill Quimby

That's probably about right. I heard they went for about $10,000 last year. That's just for the permit, you have to purchase a license and pay for a PH, set up a camp, fuel, food etc. but you should still be able to get them for around $25,000 all in.

And after all is said, done and bought, BOTS still has 70,00 too many....but the "tourist" can enjoy them.....for a few more years

Now if they did this for the Yatta Plateau or Mount Elgon I would be back there in an instant.

Twenty-seven jumbos auctioned for nearly P6m

STAFF WRITER
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks made P5.6 million from an auction of 27 elephants last Friday.

From Mmegi online March 31, 2011

In a media statement, a spokesman of the Ministry of the Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Archibald Ngakayagae, says they engaged Kgale Auctioneers for the auction of elephant hunting packages for Controlled Hunting Areas (CHA) CT 4, CT 7, NG 8, NG 9 and NG 35.

The statement reads: "The said packages had five, six, six, five and five elephants respectively. These controlled hunting areas are within Central and Ngamiland districts. A total of 27 elephants were auctioned at the value of P5.6 million of which the highest bid was at P246,000 per elephant for NG 35.

"The auction was solely for Botswana-registered companies as a way of according them the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the tourism hunting industry and for protection and management of wildlife, especially elephants."

Thirty-three Botswana-registered companies bid for the auction but only 29 turned up for the auction. Of significance is that three of the 29 companies emerged victorious with the highest bidder paying P246,000 per animal for NG 35 and the lowest P135,000 for NG9.

The reserve prize per elephant, excluding hunting licence fees and other permit fees, was P10,000, the statement says. In terms of the conditions of sale, all bidders signed an agreement with the government immediately after completion of the auction sale.

The money accrued from the sale will be used to assist in the conservation and management of elephants. "It is worth noting that hunting licences will only be issued upon full payment of the licence and permit fees by each of the three companies who participated in the auction sale," Ngakayagae says.

"Hunting for these elephants will commence immediately on the day of purchasing of the hunting licence and end on the 30 November 2011. The 27 elephants are those regarded as problem animals from hotspot areas in the Central and Ngamiland districts. Wildlife officers will be present during hunting.

Some really big boys are going to hit the ground. One of those areas averaged 80# plus last year. Alot of those elephants for '11 were already sold before the auction but there might be one left.........................

Mark