Botswana: Driven to near extinction

For over 20,000 years, clans of hunter-gatherers have survived in central Botswana’s stark, desert plains. Now, a handful are left, locked in a bitter dispute over their right to remain in what has been declared a wildlife reserve. Botswana’s efforts to remove two small ethnic Basarwa communities from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the latest chapter in a long history of dislocation and loss. Government officials argue the Basarwas’ changing lifestyle is incompatible with wildlife conservation. They want the last holdouts – estimated at less than 30 – to be resettled where they can be provided modern services such as schools and clinics, as reported by The Star.