One man dies, three escape as elephant attacks farmers
The 76-year-old man that was killed by an elephant in Nxauaxau village in the North-West District along the Okavango Delta and Namibian border, was buried this past weekend.
Gumare Station Commander, Chenamo Orateng confirmed the report that the elephant had killed the man and trampled on him.
Orateng, said the deceased and three other men all riding horses, had gone looking for their livestock at the time of the incident.
“The elephant appeared from nowhere and attacked them, unfortunately the deceased fell from the horse and that is when it attacked and killed him,” Orateng said.
He was found lifeless on the scene and rushed to Gumare Primary Hospital where he was certified dead. This is the first incident in Orateng’s policing area. He urged the public to always be vigilant because the area is a wildlife location.
Simon Phuthego of Simon Phuthego Foundation told The Midweek Sun that several factors among them, the search for food and water and the scarcity of resources as a result of climate change, have led to the increase of elephant population in Ngami and Okavango areas.
According to Phuthego, the prevalence of elephants in the area has led to low agricultural activities and produce for both arable and pastoral farmers, increasing the poverty statistics.
He said a lot of people have lost loved ones, some escaped near-death experiences, while others were left injured because not much is done to address or compensate for lost life or damaged agricultural products. Inevitably, he added, there has been increased animosity by people in the area, towards elephants or wildlife in general.
“Human wildlife conflict is here to stay since we have the same habitat. Society has to learn and acknowledge co-existing with the wild. I think people should be taught animal behaviours. It is important to promote indigenous knowledge on how we could co-exist with wildlife,” Phuthego said.
He said community education and training in animal perception is needed and that trauma psycho-counselling should be easily accessible for the victims and their families.
Botswana recently threatened to send 10 000 and 20 000 elephants to the UK and Germany respectively after both countries proposed stricter controls on hunting trophies.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi said it would help people to understand human-wildlife conflict, which is among the primary threats to the species including the experiences of subsistence farmers affected by crop raiding by the animals.
Masisi’s comments came amid heightened tensions between anti-trophy activists in Europe and Africa and those who say that regulated hunting is helpful for elephant conservation in some cases allowing tourists to kill a small number of animals for thousands of dollars to provide livelihoods for local people and ensure habitats are not converted for agriculture.