Grim warning as report states ‘hundreds’ of elephants are being poached each year in Botswana, a 593 per cent increase since 2014
- Elephants Without Borders research likely to increase pressure on Botswana, which last month sparked controversy by lifting its ban on hunting
A leading conservation group has warned of surging elephant poaching in parts of Botswana and estimated nearly 400 were killed across the country in 2017 and 2018, according to a report published Thursday, adding to conservation concerns.
The Elephants Without Borders research in the scientific journal Current Biology is likely to increase pressure on Botswana, which last month sparked controversy by lifting its ban on hunting saying it would help control a booming population that was damaging farmers’ livelihoods.
Thursday’s report noted a 593 per cent increase in fresh elephant carcasses in the north of the country since 2014, with many of these found clustered in five northern “hotspots”.
“This evidence suggests that ivory poaching on the scale of hundreds of elephants per year has been occurring in northern Botswana since 2017 or possibly earlier,” the report said.
EWB last year said it had identified nearly 90 elephants thought to have been poached after an aerial survey, a number that was vigorously contested by the government.
The expanded study published on Thursday estimated that some 385 elephants were killed for their tusks between 2017 and 2018, with 156 confirmed as being poached last year alone.
