Botswana elephant poaching 'no hoax'
Source: BBC
Botswana elephant poaching 'no hoax'
By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Botswana
25 February 2019
One of the last elephant sanctuaries in Africa has "a significant elephant-poaching problem", according to the final results of an aerial wildlife survey in Botswana seen by the BBC.
Elephants Without Borders, which conducted the four-yearly survey with the government, said there was a six-fold increase in the number of "fresh" or "recent" elephant carcasses in northern Botswana amid "obvious signs" of poaching.
Mike Chase, the scientist who carried out the survey, sparked a fierce debate in the country when he went public half-way through his study in August last year with accusations there was a poaching problem and alleging the authorities were ignoring him.
He told the BBC at the time that while flying over northern Botswana, he had discovered 87 recently killed elephants in one "hotspot" area - a number now revised to 88 - and 128 overall.
The government called his figures "false and misleading" and criticised "unsubstantiated and sensational media reports".
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47321241
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