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By Mpho Tebele

Gaborone- Botswana is considering castrating elephants as part of its efforts to control their growing population in the country, it has emerged. The country has the largest elephant population in Africa.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, while addressing a public meeting in the resort town of Maun this week revealed his government’s plans.

His announcement comes amid consultation by his Cabinet with the nation as to whether the Southern African nation which has been described as a safe haven for elephants should lift a hunting ban on elephants or not.

This also follows a report, that was dismissed by government, claiming more than 800 elephants have been killed by poachers after the government withdrew arms of war from its patrols along the boarders that it shares with its neighbours.

The ban was introduced in 2014 and people have been calling on the government to lift it, as the wildlife, especially the elephant population, had grown impoverishing them. Scientists say the country currently has more than 250 000 elephants.

Updating the nation on what he termed misleading reports about alleged massacre of elephants, Masisi said the only alternative to curtail human-wildlife conflict would be to castrate them so as to stop their numbers from increasing.

The President dismissed as false international media reports alleging mass killings of elephants saying the disarmament of the Anti-Poaching Unit within the Ministry of Wildlife was overdue as it was illegal.

Masisi said that “It’s a blatant lie that such a big number of elephants were killed. As I speak, investigations are on going and we will be transparent with any findings.” He explained that a decision was taken to withdraw the weapons after careful consideration.

“A decision was made that the rangers be relieved of some military grade weapons in their possession because the law does not allow them to carry such. It is worth noting that areas along the borders are patrolled by the APU alongside members of the Botswana Defence Force,” he said.

Masisi warned the nation to be wary of elephant advocacy groups as they can be dangerous if taken for granted.

Maun residents took issue with the growing number of elephants which they said were posing a serious danger to their lives and property and called on the government to reduce the population by culling them.

Masisi said the government was studying the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) procedures, to see how best to manage elephants.

For his part, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama said he appreciated the nation’s concerns about the growing conflict between humans and wildlife, particularly elephants, which destroy crops and endanger people's lives.



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