28 Oct 2024

Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja has comforted the families of the two boys who recently survived crocodile attacks on the Thamalakane River.

The boys, aged 10 and 14 years ,who are admitted at Letsholathebe Memorial hospital, sustained serious injuries when they were attacked by a crocodile while swimming last week.

“I managed to check on the boys and they are recuperating and I am hopeful that they would be fine. I plead with parents and guardians to always keep an eye on children,” said Ms Makwinja in an interview at the scene of the attack.

Water sources such as rivers, she said, were home to dangerous animals such as hippos and crocodiles and she therefore encouraged parents to ensure children’s safety at all times.

She appealed to parents to constantly sensitise their children on the possible dangers around rivers and other water sources.

Ms Makwinja who had earlier attended a funeral of a man killed by an elephant at Makalamabedi, said incidents involving elephants were increasing every year and assured residents that government was making efforts to address the matter.

She was hopeful that the National Human-Wildlife Conflict Strategy and Action Plan for Botswana would provide lasting solutions to issues of human-wildlife conflict in the country.

She acknowledged that victims injured by animals were not compensated as compared to those killed by animals. She expressed hope that the strategy would take that into consideration.

Government has contracted Okavango Research Institute to develop the national Human-Wildlife Conflict Strategy and Action Plan for Botswana and the draft was submitted recently.

Issues of human-wildlife conflict, the minister said, were a serious concern in the country citing that elephants moved to farming areas and destroyed property, crops and killed people leaving some with permanent injuries.

Ms Makwinja also pinned hopes on the 20^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) slated for 2025 to bring applicable solutions to ensure wildlife species especially elephants were conserved as well as to respect the socio-economic aspect of the communities found in their habitats.

She is optimistic that the meeting would provide meaningful solutions to sustainably manage the numbers and derive economic value from elephant resources.

She cited that recently, Botswana hosted CITES African Elephant dialogue meeting, attended by participants from 33 elephant range states to deliberate on issues that had impact on elephant conservation and management.

The meeting came up with the outcomes that would reflect on collective desire to protect wildlife heritage and harness its potential to develop economies of elephant range states.

“We believe that the wildlife resources should be used to uplift the lives of the people that live with it and we are happy that the delegates had an opportunity to visit the wildlife areas to appreciate the elephant population and the damages caused,” she added.

Ms Makwinja said since the delegation had evidence, Botswana was hopeful that they would support them at the upcoming CoP20 meeting.

She urged local communities to exercise patience as  government was doing all in its power to address human-wildlife conflict. ENDS