Botwana seems to have finally found a solution to the overpopulation of elephants, encouraging them to move to Angola
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIl Botswana may have finally found a solution to the overpopulation of elephants: will encourage them to leave the country and move to Angola.
Botswana has long been considered the sanctuary of African elephants, but the elephant population has grown excessively. In fact, the country is home to almost half of all African elephants in the world, equal to 135.000 specimens in an area of 520.000 km2.
The animals, whose habitat is gradually reducing, often approach inhabited areas causing damage and this causes not a few conflicts with farmers, which even kill them.
The problem is such that the elephant issue is now at the center of election campaigns and politicians do not hesitate to propose drastic solutions including the culling of all elephants.
A year ago, the Botswana government lifted the ban on elephant hunting, a practice banned since 2014.
Botswana revokes the ban on elephant hunting
Recently, however, the governments of Botswana and Angola have launched a joint initiative for promote elephant migration in Angola.
Part of the elephants that now live in Botswana come from Angola which, before the civil war, was home to about 100.000 elephants. Today it has fewer than 10.000.
The civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002, reduced the movement of elephants and other animals, forcing them to remain confined to Botswana and other neighboring countries.
La solution it would therefore be to encourage elephants to leave the lands of Botswana to return to Angola, removing fences, mines and other obstacles or dangers along the way.
Since Angola has an ideal habitat for elephants and it is natural for animals to leave overpopulated areas to seek out areas with greater resources of food and water, the experts are confident regarding the success of the migration.
The organizations have started equip elephants with collars to be able to monitor their movements and it seems that several specimens are already moving towards Angola.
This solution could save thousands of Botswana elephants, which would otherwise be culled due to ongoing tensions with farmers.
Sources of reference: Afrik21 / The Sydney Morning Herald
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