![A Cape vulture flies low at the Vulpro Vulture Rehabilitation Centre in Hartebeepoort Dam in the Magalisburg region of South Africa in 2015 [Mujahid Safodien/AFP] (AFP)](https://focusingonwildlife.com/news/wp-content/uploads/000_Par8276044.jpg "More than 150 endangered vultures poisoned in South Africa, Botswana")
At least 150 critically-endangered vultures were poisoned to death in separate incidents in Botswana and South Africa, conservationists said, warning that the mass killings pushed the birds closer to extinction. In the latest incidents, more than 50 white-backed vultures were found dead in Botswana’s northern Chobe district on Friday, while about 100 others were discovered […]
Tag: Botswana
Elephants in Southern Africa – Management Issues and Options
Elephant conservation in southern Africa has been remarkably successful over the last century. The region’s elephant populations collapsed in the late 1880s through over-hunting, but their numbers have since increased more than 20-fold; from less than a few thousand to 250,000 – 300,000 today. The overall biomass of elephants in southern Africa is now higher […]
Botswana’s wildlife management fails communities — report
A forensic study into Botswana’s Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) conservation system has found it to be failing the people and wildlife it was designed to support. The latest report, by researcher Dr Adam Cruise, confirms and builds on a 2016 review that found most CBNRMs were either not functioning at all or were […]
Home away from home: Researchers trial artificial nests for Lilian’s lovebirds
The screechy, chirruping notes of Lilian’s lovebirds are the dominant music in the air on a sunny June afternoon in an expanse of mopane forest deep in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park. These gregarious little parrots are found in mature mopane forests throughout the Zambezi River Basin. Conservationists concerned about widespread and ongoing degradation of their […]
Inside how Botswana’s trophy hunting is making the rich richer and the poor poorer
Botswana’s trophy hunting which was supposed to benefit local communities is instead shifting wealth from them to the country’s big businessmen- Sunday Standard investigations have revealed. In the latest development, a company owned by business mogul Derek Brink has strong armed an Okavango Delta based community trust to award them an elephant hunting quota at […]
The big debate: Is it time to kill off trophy hunting?
Advocates of trophy hunting like to argue that the funds raised are vital for conservation. Yet an image of a gurning businessman with his foot on a prostrate elephant sends a message so anti-conservation it could practically serve as the logo. Optics matter, as those posting their trophy shots understand; it’s not important whether they’re […]
Elephant Hunts For $70,000 to Fund Zimbabwe National Parks
Zimbabwe plans to sell the right to shoot as many as 500 elephants for as much as $70,000 per animal to help fund the upkeep of its national parks. The hunting season, which takes place over the southern hemisphere winter, will resume this year after the coronavirus pandemic scuppered plans to have elephants shot by […]
White lions face new extinction threat as trophy hunters offered cut-price deals
White lions could be facing a renewed threat of extinction after trophy hunters were offered cut-price deals to shoot them. The rate for killing the rare animals in South Africa has been slashed from £30,000 to £10,000. Trophy hunting in the country brings in around £300million, but has taken a massive financial hit because of […]