On August 28th, the owner of Living with Elephants Foundation Botswana, Douglas Alan Groves, was found dead in the bush and his wife reported that he was suspected to have been killed by an elephant.
The following week, on September 5th, a 53- year -old woman of Sedie ward in Maun was killed by an elephant in Makobeng area.
She allegedly fell victim to an elephant while walking in the bush from collecting thatching grass with a group of other women.
The female elephant charged from behind some bushes and the women ran, unfortunately for the 53 -year -old it caught up with her and trampled her to death.
“These are common cases in this region because people do not know how to avoid being attacked by elephants. Don’t run in a straight line when an elephant or any other wild animal charges at you because you can never outrun it, rather run in a zig-zag manner to confuse the animal and do not run against the direction of the wind,” explained co-founder of a non-governmental organization called Elephant Protection Society, Oaitse Nawa in an interview this week.
Nawa is also a professional guide.
He was giving advice as every dry season in the North West District, people get killed by elephants as that is the time when the animals move closer to villages in search of both water and taller and greener trees.
Nawa emphasised the need to be alert when walking in the bush, identifying escape routes that can be used to obstruct animals and also knowin the direction of the wind.
Elephants, he said had reached areas such as Shorobe, Matsaudi, Matlapana, Boro, Xharaxao, Goroko, Gogomoga and Moeti ward in Maun.
This, Nawa said is because water levels in the Delta were going down and the dry season was approaching.
Elephant Protection Society will from next month, October 5th until 10th, embark on an awareness walk regarding animals behaviour to sensitise people in these areas on how to co-exist peacefully with these giants.
“The reason for this campaign is to educate and sensitize the people about conservation of this giant species by creating and enhancing safer havens for them whilst protecting the community,” Nawa stated.
He added that the awareness campaign is important, especially that elephants population have spread further to other parts of the country and closer to people who do not understand their behavior.
