- Water Crisis follows drying of Boteti river
- Private operators come to the rescue
- Provide water for animal
- Provision inadequate as there are no water sources inland of the Park
- DWNP poorly resourced to address the situation
- Poaching surges as Park fence completely collapsed
- Poachers having a field day without law enforcement
- Hardly any patrols in the Park due to ‘lack of resources’
- Wild animals caught with snares on Park boundary
- Animals move freely from Park to the village in search of water, forage
Thousands of animals in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park face a bleak future owing to shortage of water and pasture – following the drying up of Boteti River, a situation that further compounds the already drought stricken area.
While the department of Wildlife and National Parks, is expected to provide alternative water sources for animals during the dry spell, it appears to be heavily constrained by resources.
The Khumaga community, who live adjacent to the Park have also weighed in, pointing to a crisis that has seen wild animals moving into the village in search of water, causing all sorts of problems. This as, the Park boundary from the Kumaga entry point southwards has no fence. The fence has long collapsed allowing easy movement in and out of the park – both by wild and domestic animals, as well as poachers.
The Ngami Times, was this past weekend in the area to gauge the situation, and made efforts to have a situation report from the DWNP. This was denied, and the officer in charge at the Khumaga entry claimed to have the powers to deny the team entry into the porous park. This week, a formal request for an interview was made and sent to the regional office, and by time of going to press – the request had still not been granted.
Water shortage aside, the animals are faced with hunger – particularly hippos (estimated at around 100) that are stranded in the remaining water pool have nothing to eat, and are regularly supplied with feeds by the private operators in the area. In a rather strange phenomenon, the hippos have now resorted to feeding on elephants’dung.
Meanwhile, some pools that held the last paddles of water have now become death traps for animals that are in desperate search of water. In one pool, a hippo, Zebras and Wildebeests got trapped and died in the mud.
It has become an open secret that in the middle of all these, another conservation menace has taken advantage; – and that is Poaching. This has been acknowledged by some residents from the Khumaga community and some concerned stakeholders.
Those who acknowledge an upsurge of poaching in the area with animals roaming freely, – also decried that the DWNP appears to be poorly resourced that any other year. Park patrols, have become a thing of the past due to shortage of staff on the ground. The dilapidated fence on one side of the park has also exacerbated the situation.
“With no fence and patrols in the park, what would you expect?” a community member asked rhetorically?
“For poachers it has become a playground, as they have all the time to enter and do their business and leave the park without any fear of apprehension. It is not unusual to hear gunshots here – and the DWNP knowns about it,” a resident revealed.
In a shocking discovery, there are snares that were found on the fenceless stretch of the Park. Perpetrators use the remains of the fence to put up these snare and catch the big game. Sadly, a Zebra was found dead in one the snares, and appeared to have been there for days and no one had been to the area.
Again, those closer to the park allege that this is just one of the many incidents, further alleging that some are trapped in the farming area where wild animals constantly roam in search of forage and water, and never come back.
Having been denied an interview and entry into the park, the team was able to gather that there may be only two DWNP boreholes that are operational, albeit along the river, which are currently supplemented by those at Leroo La Tau, Meno a Kwena and Moela Safari Lodge among others. Indications, and from previous observations- there are no other sources of water inland of the park.
Presently, the private sector has invested heavily in the provision of water to avert a worst case where animals would die in mass.
The department had more than 10 functional boreholes before the flooding of the Boteti River again in 2009, and most of these have become white elephants following years of neglect, leading to vandalism and theft of the infrastructure. The department is failing to recommission these water points to save the dire situation.
The situation at the moment is being saved by the private sector, mostly safari operators in the area by through pumping water from their boreholes to water the animals. The sad reality is that the few boreholes and water points – mostly operated by private operators, though a significant investment, are a far cry from the demand.
The El Nino induced drought that has affected the wider Southern Africa region, has had some significant knock on effects on the ecosystems of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
When in flood Boteti River, becomes the major source of surface water for the wildlife in the park, and livestock on the other part.
Currently the river bed is bone dry – and the only water sources are artificial points that water thousands of Zebra, wildebeest – and large herbivores in elephants and the hippos that are stranded in a pool in the river.
A catastrophe looms in the horizon should the situation not be addressed, and worse still – if the rains do not come in time and in considerable amounts to relief the pressure from the few boreholes. All indications are the flood water from the Thamalakane will not reach Boteti River this year, at least as far as Makgadikgadi National Park. The clearly very low flood waters currently moves slowly, and struggling to move past Maun towards the junction.
However, this is similar to pre 2009 period when the river had been dry for almost two decades, when the Department of Wildlife and National parks finally looked to the private sector to enhance water provision in the park.
This led to the drilling of 9 boreholes and 5 watering points in the park, mostly on the river bank by Kalahari Conservation Society (KCS). The project then brought to an end the water shortage that had marred the park for years.
However, following the project, the Boteti River flooded again after many years – and that meant a stable supply of water for the many animals. The DWNP then decommissioned the boreholes, or stopped operating them, the infrastructure of the water provision project was neglected – leading to vandalism and theft.
When the river dried again in the recent years – the department was caught off guard as the boreholes could not kick in owing to the fact that the infrastructure had been vandalised and stolen. Getting them into operation appears to be a tall order for the department.
Meanwhile, the water shortage has led to another threat to the range land on the other side of the park along the A3 that connects Maun and Gweta –Nata near Phuduhudu where elephants have dug up pipelines supplying Phuduhudu – creating water pools along the road. This damage has benefitted many elephants, and other animals like Zebras, wildebeests, giraffe.
Unfortunately, the damage has come at a cost to the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC), the custodians of the pipeline who have to repair the damages on a weekly basis in futility. This also affected water supply to the intended beneficiaries.
The situation has presented yet another threat to the environment, the wild animals hang around these water pools throughout the day, and this presents a threat to the ecology of the place. It is also a danger to road users who have to deal with the large herds of these animals on the road day and night.
Pundits have constantly posited that the situation could have been avoided had the WUC engaged the DWNP on the project before implementation, to ensure its safe from elephants.
With the department of metereological services having forecast a normal to above normal rainfall season during the coming rainy season, hopes remain pinned on early and significant rainfalls to save the situation. Once the Zebra migration starts after healthy down pours at both ends, the animals will be saved from these looming catastrophe.
However, without the intervention of nature, government, through the department of wildlife and Nationals Parks is looked upon to play its part is ensuring acceptable conservation practices and protection of the unique tourism product offering that is Makgadikgadi.
