Great Elephant Census: A third of Africa's elephants have dissapeared in the last decade. Photo / Jeff Hutchens, Getty Images
Great Elephant Census: A third of Africa's elephants have dissapeared in the last decade. Photo / Jeff Hutchens, Getty Images
The cause and number of elephants found dead near one of Botswana's famous wildlife sanctuary has been disputed by government officials.
The carcasses of 87 elephants were discovered by Elephants Without Boarders (EWB), last week. The scientists, working on a local government survey, estimated the animals had been killed within the last week. Many of which had been harvested by poachers for their tusks.
"I'm shocked, I'm completely astounded. The scale of elephant poaching is by far the largest I've seen or read about anywhere in Africa to date," EWB's Dr Mike Chase told the BBC on Monday.
This account represents double the number of "fresh poached" elephants found anywhere else in Africa.
The Great Elephant Census, on which EWB has been working, has recorded that a third of Africa's elephant population has been lost in the last ten years. Across the border from Botswana, Tanzania has lost almost 60% of their wild elephants in five years.
EWB says the 87 dead elephants were verified by four separate people, including Botswana officials. Photo / Elephants Without Borders
With a population of 130,000 elephants, Botswana has been seen as the last sanctuary Africa as ivory poachers continue to operate elsewhere on the continent.
Now this shocking find has brought Botswana's reputation into doubt.
However, the Botswana Government has spoken out against their EWB's findings as "false and misleading."
In a statement on Facebook the government has disputed both the cause and scale of the problem.
"At no point in the last months or recently were 87 or 90 elephants killed in one incident in any place in Botswana," said Thato Raphaka, Permanent Secretary for Botswana's Ministry of Lands and Housing.
The government only acknowledged 53 elephants as being reported dead by EWB's mission and "that the majority were not poached but rather died from natural causes and retaliatory killings as a result of human and wildlife conflicts."
The statement was accompanied by pictures from elephant graveyards during a "verification/ investigation exercise".
Investigation: The Government claims the elephant carcasses were not 'recent' and 'of natural causes'. Supplied, Botswana Goverment
This contradiction of events creates a great tension between the charity and government which had been working together on the Great Elephant Census.
The charity was commissioned by the Botswana government to carry out aerial surveys of elephants and wildlife in Botswana - covering Chobe, Okavango, Ngamiland and North Central District.
In spite of the dispute, Dr Chase stands by his charity's numbers. "I am an objective scientist, with no political agenda. I am sad that our government has responded in this way," he told National Geographic. Each of the 87 carcasses were verified by at least four people, including one government employee and he is determined that voice recordings from the flights will support his findings.
Poaching: The dead Elephants had their tusks removed. Photo / Elephants Without Borders
Botswana's reputation as a haven for elephants has been hard won.
Poaching incidents were previously rare due to the use of armed anti-poaching units. However, these units were disarmed in May after Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi took office.
While the government insists that withdrawal of arms from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks has not diminished the effectiveness of its anti-poaching operations – this report has brought the reputation as Africa's elephant sanctuary into question.
