By Boniface Keakabetse

Oaitse Nawa of the Elephant Protection Society, a local conservationist, has suddenly become one of Botswana’s most outspoken opponents of trophy hunting.

The Elephant Protection Society (EPS), a nonprofit organization devoted to conservation and enhancing the standard of living for locals in wildlife areas, was established in 2018 by Nawa (49), a qualified professional safari guide.

Nawa began his career in the Okavango Delta tourism industry as a scullery and later as a waiter for Wild Lifestyles Mobile Safari. Today, he is a fervent opponent of trophy hunting.

Nawa, who denied he is acting on behalf of global animal rights organizations, recently organized a news conference in Maun and petitioned the government in Gaborone to oppose the addition of 400 elephants to the 2025 shooting limit.

“The communities are not happy and are not seeing the benefits of trophy hunting,” Nawa stated at a press conference. The local population does not gain from hunting as a conservation strategy. We were led to believe that reintroducing hunting would resolve conflicts between people and wildlife. Nawa continued, “Human-wildlife conflict cases are still increasing, but hunting is still occurring.”

Nawa clarified: ’consider the following scenario. Older elephant bulls are of interest to trophy hunters. If there isn’t an elder bull among the herd of elephants near the human settlement, they won’t be interested. How precisely are they resolving the human and conflict issue as claimed if they won’t force the elephants out of that community as a safety measure?

Nawa further posited that the shooting of older elephant males by trophy hunters may have an impact on the social structure of elephants and may lead to future conservation issues. He added that because the elder elephants are crucial in teaching the younger ones how to survive in their environment, their deaths may cause a rift in this social structure.

Nawa claims that their stance is that Government should halt hunting until the issues are fixed. Since hunting has begun, some elephants have been acting violently, according to Nawa, which he claims results in attacks on humans. According to Nawa, some of these elephants had seen hunters shoot their family members.

Nawa added that they want hunting to end so Botswana could develop a different paradigm that might be effective for the nation. There are also many who are unhappy about the 480 elephants that have been included in this year’s shooting limit. As the NGO, they would like to have participated in the hunting quota preparation.

He also refuted the idea that there are too many elephants in Botswana, stating that the reality is that there are occasionally too many elephants in one area, which he claimed is not overpopulation but over concentration.

Communities support trophy hunting, according to Ngamiland Council of Non-Governmental Organizations Director Siyoka Simasiku, who also acknowledged that he is aware of Nawa’s campaign to outlaw trophy hunting. “Next year, we will host dialogues with all the relevant stakeholders to hear Mr. Nawa’s concerns,” he explained.