the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

for several consecutive years, the devastation that the fences and the increasing
livestock population has on the wildlife can be seen on the largest scale. Wildebeest
are often the most seriously affected species in the Southwestern System since they
are completely dependent on water. The largest concentration of wildebeest during
the wet season is along the boundary between the Ghanzi and Kgalagadi districts.
However, their migration to the permanent water of the Okavango Delta in the dry
season is restricted due to the Kuke Fence (Crowe, 1995). This restriction has
caused a vast reduction in the wildebeest population. As Ross (1987) shows, the
drought years of the 1980s had a huge effect on the wildebeest population, where
approximately 52 000 of the 80 000 wildebeest that migrated died.
Eland and hartebeest populations have also been greatly affected by the
construction of the veterinary cordon fences. The hartebeest in the Southwestern
System historically migrated in a north-easterly direction from the Kgalagadi and
Ghanzi districts. This movement however, is now restricted due to the construction
of fences and an increasing amount of human settlements in the area. Hartebeest
numbers have therefore declined dramatically in the last 15 years, resulting in a loss
of 83% of the population. As shown in Figure 5.11, the combined seasonal
distribution of wildebeest, hartebeest and eland requires a vast area to sustain these
populations over the long term. It is obvious that this movement can not be
accomplished due to an increasing human population in Botswana (Crowe, 1995).
Taolo (1997) notes that a comparison of the distribution of the biomass of wild
species with that of domestic livestock suggests that the two seem to be mutually
exclusive and thus wildlife numbers will only increase in areas where the livestock
biomass has decreased. It is likely that with continued livestock expansion, wildlife
will be displaced. This creates an inverse relationship between the wildlife and
livestock populations, a relationship which is a reflection of human distribution and a
result of the disturbance to the wildlife migration patterns to which this distribution
has contributed.
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