The threat posed by illegal bushmeat hunting to the Okavango Delta‘s tourism industry in Botswana has been exposed in a recently published report. Botswana is not normally associated with high levels of poaching, however the report finds that illegal bush meat hunting is occurring at such as significant scale in the Delta that, “the large quantities of bush meat reported by some hunters suggests the existence of an organised commercial element to the industry, with capacity to harvest, transport and dispose of significant volumes.”
Approximately 1,800 illegal hunters are estimated to be each harvesting 320 kilogrammes of bush meat annually, raising concern that the commercialisation of the bush meat trade could be the first step towards a more organised wildlife crime syndicates that targets lions, rhinos and elephants. The report also alarmingly states, “humans are the fourth most prominent predator in the Delta,” and that, “cumulative harvest by humans and other predators likely exceeds the intrinsic population growth rate of several species of ungulates in the Delta.”
Should this happen, it’s not just wildlife populations, but the tourism industry that could be under threat. CEO of Great Plains and National Geographic Explorer, Derreck Joubert says, “Bushmeat in small quantities is often seen as ‘just substance hunting’ but it has far reaching affects. When poachers enter our national parks and reserves specifically for meat they often target predators simply because it is easier and less dangerous to operate in a predator free hunting area.”