A persistent heat wave, relentless in its fury, has been beating down on both animals and humans across the country for almost two months now.
The Okavango and Ngamiland districts, which are renowned for their tourism prowess, have not been spared of soaring temperatures with both animals and humans falling victim to the merciless heat.
This week temperatures are expected to reach 43 degrees Celsius in the North West region
In a tragic series of events, majestic elephants are beginning to succumb to the unrelenting heat, and human beings if not careful can be caught in the cross fire, the wildlife department has warned.
Animals, driven to desperation by unquenchable thirst and hunger, venture farther than ever before in search of relief. With each passing day, these creatures become more unpredictable and dangerous to people.
Last month a man was killed by an elephant while walking home from his farm in Ngarange village in Okavango district. It was around 10:00 hrs in the morning when he walked into a herd of elephants.
Having learnt to live peacefully with wildlife the man had manoeuvred and just when he thought he had escaped he met one of the elephants which was walking a smaller calf and it trampled him to death.
A few weeks earlier, an elderly woman of Samedupi settlement was left critically injured by yet another angry elephant in Mawana area, just a short distance from Maun village. The elderly woman according to Regional Wildlife Coordinator in the department of Wildlife and National Parks, Dimakatso Ntshebe, was attacked in the morning.
“She had spent a night with relatives and in the morning when she was walking back to her house an elephant attacked her and left her critically injured,” Ntshebe explained.
Allegedly her life was saved by a calf which trumpeted from a distance, and the elephant stopped the attack and rushed towards the calf.
“She is still nursing serious wounds in hospital,” Ntshebe explained.
In yet another incident a woman is battling for her dear life at Nyangabwe referral hospital in Francistown after another elephant left her half dead in Beetsha village a few weeks ago.
According to information from Wildlife office, the woman and her husband were walking to their field with plans to till the land in preparation for the coming rains and ploughing season.
However just hardly a kilometer outside the village they encountered elephants and among them two small calves. The elephants launched an attack and the husband is said to have fled but the woman was attacked.
All these attacks were recorded in the last two months but Ntshebe explains that in the last four months there has been rising issues with animals in the region.
“Animals are angry, depressed, thirsty and hungry and are coming closer to people in search for food,” Ntshebe noted as a caution to people to be more alert, vigilant and always report any sighting of wild animals near and moving closer to villages and settlements.
Animals, especially elephants are dying on weekly basis from extreme weather conditions due to the change in climate and according to Ntshebe these animals are getting agitated and dangerous.
“That is why we are appealing to communities to report sighting of these animals to Wildlife offices so that the rangers can drive them back into the wildlife reserves. They should not try to drive them away because if they do they may put their lives or those of others in danger,” advised Ntshebe.
“Elephants have been mostly affected by the current heat wave, some are dying, some have lost their calves so it is a cause of concern,” Ntshebe noted and further explained that, even where water is available the animals are still migrating from such places in search for food.
“Through the elephant management plan we dug several water holes and wells in the reserves but the challenge is that there is no enough forage.”
Botswana is known to have the highest elephant population in Southern African region with a total of 131,909 counted live elephants during the 2022 aerial survey by Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).
KAZA TFCA includes five countries in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Botswana, Zimbabwe with 65,000 elephants, Namibia with 21,909, Angola with 5,983 and Zambia with a least number of elephant at 3,840.
KAZA TFCA is one of the world’s biggest conservation areas in the world. It was formed in August 2011 when ministers responsible for conservation from these countries signed a treaty in Angola with the purpose to harmonize policies, strategies and practices for managing natural resources across these countries which they actually share.