from ODIRILE TOTENG in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana Bureau
GABORONE, (CAJ News) – A NEW campaign has been announced to relocate at-risk elephants from Botswana to safe havens in Angola.
This could also resolve a dilemma that finds Botswana’s elephant population, estimated at over 130 000, exceeding the country’s carrying capacity.
The new groundbreaking programme announced by the Centre for a Humane Economy also promotes ecotourism over trophy hunting.
It has partnered the Botswana-based Elephants Without Borders (EWB) – a cross-border research organization focused on elephant conservation and management – in a collaboration dedicated to relocating elephants to Angola.
In Angola, elephants were massacred during the nation’s long civil war. The new project is to relieve social pressures between elephants and people in Botswana.
Botswana has more elephants than any other nation worldwide.
The collaboration, which also includes the de-mining organisation, Halo Trust, marks a significant step in creating the Great Elephant Corridor, which will establish a safe migration route for elephants across multiple countries.
Jennifer Skiff, director of international programmes for the Centre for a Humane Economy, was to meet with government leaders in Luanda, Angola, and Gaborone, Botswana, this week, to help facilitate this landmark Southern African elephant protection and ecotourism project.
“Our vision is to create a thriving, humane economy in Angola while supporting elephants and other wildlife as it migrates between countries in southern Africa,” Skiff said.
The heart of the Great Elephant Corridor runs along the Cuando River, which forms the international border between Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. The river is a lifeline for the world’s largest elephant population.
Nearby Zimbabwe is second to Botswana in terms of elephant population.
Mike Chase, co-founder of EWB, said relocating the giant animals to Angola marked a homecoming for the species, allowing elephants to return to their natural habitats after enduring the impacts of Angola’s civil conflict(1975-2002).
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center and Animal Wellness Action, said, “A 27-year civil war resulted in a mass depopulation of wildlife in the vast and beautiful nation of Angola.”
The unspecified number of jumbos is to be relocated to the Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga National Parks in Angola.
– CAJ News