I just cannot fathom why they disarmed the anti Poaching units.......


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45396394

May be it is done on purpose??!

Exactly right Saeed.
Now follow the money.

https://www.news24.com/Africa/...wana-report-20180904

At least 87 dead elephants have been found near a sanctuary in Botswana, according to a report.

According to BBC, conservation group Elephants Without Borders discovered the elephants while carrying out an extensive aerial survey on wildlife close to the Okavango Delta wildlife sanctuary.

The scientist carrying out the survey said many of the elephants were killed for their tusks just weeks ago and that five white rhino have been poached in three months, according to the report.

The government has disarmed the Department of Wildlife and National Parks from military weapons and equipment previously used in the fight against poaching, according to Tourism Update.

The disarming of the anti-poaching unit has reportedly led to a rise in poaching in Botswana, which was home to 130 000 elephants.

The BBC has quoted Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders as saying: "I'm shocked. I'm completely astounded. The scale of elephant poaching is by far the largest I've seen or read about anywhere in Africa to date."

The Great Elephant Census conducted in 2015 found that a third of African elephants have been lost in the last decade.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
May be it is done on purpose??!

Kenya all over again.....

Not so fast boys and girls...see response from the Government of Botswana. Keep in mind that Mike Chase/
Elephants without Borders is Anti Hunting. They will slant any result/reports to the negative, especially now that we are on the verge of reopening hunting.

https://m.facebook.com/BotswanaGovernment/

what's their response Safari2? Can't find it

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Not so fast boys and girls...see response from the Government of Botswana. Keep in mind that Mike Chase/
Elephants without Borders is Anti Hunting. They will slant any result/reports to the negative, especially now that we are on the verge of reopening hunting.

https://m.facebook.com/BotswanaGovernment/

quote:

Originally posted by ilitshe_zim:
what's their response Safari2? Can't find it

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
Not so fast boys and girls...see response from the Government of Botswana. Keep in mind that Mike Chase/
Elephants without Borders is Anti Hunting. They will slant any result/reports to the negative, especially now that we are on the verge of reopening hunting.

https://m.facebook.com/BotswanaGovernment/

Scroll down on the page it is like the first or 2nd post. You have to hit on where it says “more” for the full report to come up.

You believe governments?

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Gould:
You believe governments?

In this case it is hard to figure out which one to believe!

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Gould:
You believe governments?

In this case it is hard to figure out which one to believe!

You are right on this.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Gould:
You believe governments?

In this case it is hard to figure out which one to believe!

You are right on this.

Mike Chase/EWB is as anti hunting as they come. Too bad there was not another contractor to do the survey!!

Hopefully we will see elephant quotas in Botswana for 2019.

I’m here in Botswana now and we heard the news.
The discussion around the campfire is a couple of things
1) the new President had a meeting with neighboring leaders. A top issue was the killing of “innocent” fisherman etc by the anti poaching. They apparently killed,frankly, many people bordering Chobe etc..Namibians..Zambians etc. this led to the disarming of the anti poaching teams
2) the number reported is a slanted bit of propaganda as well as they did not account for any numbers of problem elephants and others already known by the government and many killed by the government. This accounts for some 50 or more of the 87 carcasses sported by the aircraft.

To some folks posts above...this guy is political. He was pro hunting...now anti hunting
He is a POS who blows which ever way the money is blowing

quote:

Originally posted by Poyntman:
I’m here in Botswana now and we heard the news.
The discussion around the campfire is a couple of things
1) the new President had a meeting with neighboring leaders. A top issue was the killing of “innocent” fisherman etc by the anti poaching. They apparently killed,frankly, many people bordering Chobe etc..Namibians..Zambians etc. this led to the disarming of the anti poaching teams
2) the number reported is a slanted bit of propaganda as well as they did not account for any numbers of problem elephants and others already known by the government and many killed by the government. This accounts for some 50 or more of the 87 carcasses sported by the aircraft.

To some folks posts above...this guy is political. He was pro hunting...now anti hunting
He is a POS who blows which ever way the money is blowing

Thanks for the verification!!

Makes you wonder about the continent wide survey he did in 2015!!

I thought some numbers were low including Zambia and Botswana.

The number of elephant is quoted at numbers from 130.000 (anti-hunters..) to 207.000, this number from officials in Botswana..

What should we believe..??

quote:

Originally posted by Pondoro:
The number of elephant is quoted at numbers from 130.000 (anti-hunters..) to 207.000, this number from officials in Botswana..

What should we believe..??

Not Chase’s 130,000!

Who to believe? Rarely the media, and never activists. The Botswana government has made a good response, which is plausible.

Take the issue of "disarming" the APUs. They were not disarmed, but rather military weapon systems were removed. (a), This will be a factor of their legal standing in the country. Are they considered peace officers? For what purposes and where? (b) The APUs had been patrolling along borders, and the BDF still does that. So really, it's a case of allocating more manpower, but the media can run riot with the one world, "disarming".

quote:

Originally posted by ijl:
Who to believe? Rarely the media, and never activists. The Botswana government has made a good response, which is plausible.

Take the issue of "disarming" the APUs. They were not disarmed, but rather military weapon systems were removed. (a), This will be a factor of their legal standing in the country. Are they considered peace officers? For what purposes and where? (b) The APUs had been patrolling along borders, and the BDF still does that. So really, it's a case of allocating more manpower, but the media can run riot with the one world, "disarming".

There is no such as ACTIVIST.

It is the way ANTIS try to make themselves legitimit!

http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?...ir=2018/september/07



BDF was in charge of elephant 'massacre' area

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was in control of the Chobe area in which a disputed number of elephant carcasses were found recently, setting off global outrage on perceived rampant poaching in Botswana.

By MBONGENI MGUNI Fri 07 Sep 2018, 11:58 am (GMT +2)


The NGO which reported the poaching, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), blamed the issue on President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s decision in May to withdraw military weapons from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks’ (DWNP) anti-poaching unit.

International media upped the ante by painting a picture suggesting rangers had stood by helplessly as poachers gunned down at least 87 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Government has said about 53 elephant carcasses have been spotted, the majority being natural deaths over several months this year.

This week, authoritative sources within the DWNP told Mmegi the area in question was solely under the BDF’s management. The Department’s anti-poaching rangers, the sources said, are actually operating further south in the Kgalagadi area tackling less militarised and sophisticated poaching.

“The DWNP is more active in the Kgalagadi area where the poaching is less intense and involves poaching of predators such as leopards and the like,” a senior official within the Department told Mmegi. He requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “The area where that incident happened is under the sole control of the BDF, who are armed. The Directorate on Intelligence and Security are on one side and the BDF on the other and both are armed.

“We would not have been present there and so the issue of disarmament being a reason for the poaching does not arise,” the source said.

DWNP insiders also expressed doubt about the numbers reported by EWB, saying it was doubtful poachers would get away with killing 90 elephants without encountering the BDF or being fatally attacked by the elephants themselves, even over a large area. “An elephant’s behaviour is such that it would not stumble into a mass killing area; they move quickly away from poaching sites and are very aggressive when confronted.

“It’s practically impossible to even find 20 adult elephants together and think you could kill them all without fatalities on your side too. “Thus, even with 53 carcasses, the deaths would have to be over a certain period of time and not all related to poaching.”

https://www.facebook.com/TheTr...9651/?type=3&theater

Trying to stir up a hornet's nest where none existed.
A recent report that 87 elephant carcasses had been found in Botswana after game department anti-poaching personnel had been disarmed.
According to our source the report was put out by Michael Chase – of Elephants Without borders – to create alarm and despondency in animal rightist circles in Botswana. Chase was "in charge" of the recent Great Elephant Census.
My contacts in Botswana tell me that the photographs were actually taken in 2016..... not NOW!
So there has been a determined attempt to disgrace the new President in Botswana – because Chase preferred the old president, Ian Khama, with whom Chase was friendly. We must all be aware of such mischief makers.
RT
THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATING JUST HOW THE ANIMAL RIGHTISTS OPERATE

https://www.mmegi.bw/index.php...ir=2018/september/21



Gov't to chase Chase to court

KASANE: The government is considering taking legal action against researcher, Dr Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders (EWB) over "sensational untruths" and possible contractual breach, Mmegi has learnt.


ByTHALEFANG CHARLES Fri 21 Sep 2018, 14:40 pm (GMT +2)



On Wednesday, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) deputy director Churchill Collyer, revealed that government has taken the matter to the Attorney General to look into a possible breach of Chase’s contract with government.

He was responding to questions during a tour by local and international media of various sites where Chase recently alleged a poaching massacre involving 87 elephants had occurred over two months.

Chase was contracted by government in March through the DWNP to conduct an aerial survey of elephants in northern Botswana. Collyer said Chase has been allowed to finish the survey despite government questioning of the researcher’s numbers.

It is believed the breach of contract could relate to Chase’s reporting of his findings outside of the official channels to the DWNP, which contracted him for the survey.

Earlier this month, various international and local media quoted Chase on the alleged “87 elephants massacred near Botswana wildlife sanctuary”. The story is still trending in the websites of those media sources. The report caused a stir that threatens the reputation of Botswana as a global star in conservation, especially of elephants. Many international media outlets reported that Botswana is “no longer a refuge of the African elephant”.

In the wake of the report, government has been battling to contain the crisis by issuing rebuttals, inviting the media on press conferences and site visits of the areas in question.

This week government invited both international and local media on a fact-finding mission in the sites on the alleged ‘87 elephants massacred’. A contingent of over 25 journalists from Europe, South Africa and locally was flown from Gaborone (at the taxpayer’s expense) to meet up with the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) based in the Chobe areas.

Interestingly, Chase was missing on the media fact-finding mission. Osisinaqa Lekgoko from government communications said they “failed to get a hold of Chase” as his phone was not available and the messages they sent were not responded to.

This is despite the fact that government knows that Chase spends the whole day flying on the survey and they also know the location of his research base camp at Abu since they have a DWNP staff member embedded in the EWB census.

By Wednesday, the press was flown in with six helicopters to six elephant carcasses that EWB reported as “recently poached”. During the briefing, National Anti-Poaching Coordinator brigadier Simon Barwabatsile said Chase only showed them the coordinates of 36 elephant carcasses.

Barwabatsile told the media that they flew with Chase for two days and found only 19 carcasses. “Ten of the carcasses we found on the first day, while nine were found on the next day. We verified that six in the total of 19 were indeed poached,” Barwabatsile said.

He also said all the carcasses were not as ‘recent’ as the media reports suggested because they found them to be around ‘eight months’ old. Barwabatsile said Chase did not give them all the coordinates for the alleged 87 poached elephants.