BOTSWANA: Government calls off Maun crocodile hunt (Via Herp Digest)

Governmentt calls off Maun crocodile hunt

Mmegi, 10/27/11-MAUN: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks has called off an operation to recapture crocodiles that escaped from a farm in Setatunga.

The reptiles escaped from the Okavango Swamps Crocodile Farm last month after floodwaters swept them into the Setatunga River, which is a tributary of the Thamalakane River.Ngamiland Regional Wildlife Officer, Molothanyi Othomile told Mmegi that the search for the crocodiles was stopped because there were no more reports of the reptiles in the Setatunga area.

He said more than 200 crocodiles were captured and returned to the farm. Thirty-five were earlier on shot to reduce conflict as they had already resorted to killing and eating livestock, he said. The shooting was stopped after concerns that the ammunition might contaminate the river and endanger not only the river system but also residents of Setatunga and Tsanakona settlements who rely on it for their water supply.

At the time, government took the decision to kill the crocodiles, the giant reptiles had already slain at least 100 goats and two calves. Although the owners of the animals were promised that the crocodile farm owner Albert Willers would compensate them, they have not yet received anything from him. In an earlier interview with The Monitor, two women farmers in the area, Bosiame David who lost 32 goats and Keseme Taolo expressed worry that they may never be compensated.

Frank Ramsden who is the Member of Parliament for Maun West also feigned ignorance about the crocodiles. "I only read about it in the papers and nobody has informed me about it," he told Mmegi last week, after addressing a Kgotla meeting in Borolong ward.

The escape of the reptiles from the crocodile farm has raised questions about crocodile farming in Botswana and the need for regulation of the industry. According to the Wildlife Department, a farmer can keep as many crocodiles as he can manage. The extent to which a farmer "can manage" crocodiles has become a contentious issue in Maun lately as villagers want to know from government if the farm could be overcrowded.

For example, with over two thousand crocodiles in its cabins and swamps concerns have surfaced that the farm was overcrowded and prone to crocodile escapes whenever there is a flash flood, which is what eventually happened.The ownership and licensing of the farms has also come under scrutiny. Here again the law is silent on whose responsibility it is to monitor the farms.

The Setatunga Farm management in particular has been accused of failing to conform to best environmental practices as they allegedly channel dirty water from the crocodile ponds into the Setatunga River. Efforts by this newspaper to contact the farm owner have been futile. For a month since we have been following this story his mobile either rings unanswered or is off air.