Let’s take a brief visit to Botswana, a well-managed, for the most part, country both economically and environmentally. Located in southern Africa and land-locked, topographically it is highlighted by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which in the rainy season is home to a plethora of wild animal species.
Historically, there is evidence of stone-age people living there as hunter-gatherers. Later, tribes brought iron tools, and over time a variety of tribes inhabited the area. By about the beginning of the 19th century, there were 8 recognized chiefdoms in the area, sharing a common language and living in relative peace. By then, colonialism was well under way in Africa. As a history professor of mine put it years ago: “The European powers sliced up Africa like a hunk of meat, ate what they wanted, and threw the rest to rot.” The Dutch settlers (Afrikaners or Boers) based in the high veld of what is now South Africa and German settlers in what is now Namibia, but was then called South West Africa, moved north and west taking more Batswana land as their numbers grew. The chiefs in Botswana agreed to ask for protection from the British Empire.
In 1870, three DIKGOSI (Botswana traditional leaders) made representation to the British Government regarding the threat of their territory’s annexation by the Dutch and German settlers. With the earnest support of some local British organisations and individuals, the lobby for protection succeeded in 1885, resulting in the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
After 80 years as a British protectorate, Bechuanaland attained self-government in 1965, becoming the independent Republic of Botswana on September 30, 1966, and maintaining a position of stability and harmony ever since. Sir Seretse Khama was elected the first president and served until his death in 1980.
In 2014, the government banned hunting of wildlife and elephant-backed safaris. Poaching is a criminal offense and is taken seriously. As a result, their photo safari economy is bustling. While there in 2024, I stayed at Chobe National Park and the Santawani Okavango Delta Camp for our base camps. The diversity and numbers of wildlife species was encouraging, and every species I saw included young.
So on this World Wildlife Day, I salute Botswana!
A note on the photos, which were all taken by me in Botswana. Upper right is a REAL King, next to a regal giraffe with a couple of hitchhikers, called oxpeckers, which have a mutualistic relationship with giraffes. They not only eat ticks and parasites off the giraffes, but give a hissing warning of danger. Elephants are particularly fascinating animals and very family and community oriented. They also are very protective of their young, both the baby underneath and the teenager protected on all sides.