GABORONE, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Botswana is seeking long-term solutions to reduce human-wildlife conflict and create win-win results for both people and animals, said a senior government official Thursday. During a meeting in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, to discuss the 2023 National Human-Wildlife Conflict Consultation and its implementation, Grace Muzila, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, said that some measures to manage human-wildlife conflict, such as the compensations scheme, remain costly and unsustainable. The government spends a lot of money on a compensation scheme for damages of property by problem animals. An amount of 148 million pula (about 10.8 million U.S. dollars) was disbursed as compensation by the government to affected farmers from 2018 to 2023, she said. She noted that the meeting provides an opportunity for stakeholder input to inform decision-making, which is critical for a long-term solution that considers reducing human-wildlife conflict and promoting coexistence. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has collaborated with the University of Botswana (UB) to create a national, long-term strategic and action plan for human-wildlife management in Botswana, which is expected to take 15 months. The UB is expected to create a strategy for promoting human-wildlife coexistence, she said. According to Muzila, 46,140 problem animal incidents had been reported throughout all districts between 2018 and 2023, with 69 humans killed and 57 more injured as a result of contact with wild animals. Botswana's problem animals include elephants, lions, and leopards. Elephants are responsible for the vast majority of animal occurrences.
