Fires ravage Kalahari reserve
18/09/2008 11:50 - (SA)

Gaborone - More than 80% of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, the world's largest wildlife park, has been destroyed by fires in the past two weeks, a government official said.

"It is a huge, huge chunk of land," Gantsi District Commissioner, Jefferson Siamisang said late on Wednesday.

Aerial tours had shown that animals had fled into safe zones and no wildlife deaths have been reported.

But the vegetation, which offers shelter from the scorching desert heat and grazing, had been greatly affected.

"Vegetation is their source of life. The wildlife will struggle," Siamisang said.

The reserve, which covers 52 000 square kilometres, is the pride of Botswana, boasting hundreds of wildlife species and a serene environment that attracts tourists from around the world.

Siamisang said past fires had not been this bad. "The CKGR is a very huge, huge area. It is difficult to determine the causes of the fires. Some fires started from within the park, some started outside the park."

Botswana Tourism Board spokesperson, Keitumetse Setlang said the whole industry was "worried" about the fires because of the damage to tourism.