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

animal movement. Thus, herds of cattle can be contaminated by the Foot and Mouth
Disease virus through disease carriers which have traversed the country, from one
end to the other. The use of fences is therefore a valuable tool in disease control
(Raborokgwe, 1998). By limiting animal movement, whether it is wildlife or livestock,
the spread of this disease can be reduced and controlled effectively.
However, as noted by Kalikawe (1997), these fences have had a negative impact on
wildlife. These impacts include various direct effects on the animals as well as the
socio-economic aspects that have been created. Direct wildlife deaths do occur on a
large scale via the animals being caught, trapped or tangled on the fences. There
has also been a steady decline in animal populations due to the wildlife being cut off
from their vital resources such as seasonal water, food and breeding grounds, as
shown in Figure 5.9. There is also a disruption of migration movement patterns due
to this, and the fences have led to the concentration of animals into smaller areas,
where territories and home spaces are inadequate. Furthermore, illegal hunting of
wildlife has increased excessively along the fence lines leading to a decline in
animal numbers.
Botswana began an extensive fencing programme in the early 1950s when beef
exports from cattle farming started making a significant contribution to the economy
(Raborokgwe 1998). According to Owen and Owen (1985), the Cape buffalo and
other antelope species such as kudu and eland can carry the Foot and Mouth
Disease virus. Veterinary cordon fences were therefore built to segregate the
country's stock population of cattle from wild herds. These fences were also used to
separate infected cattle from other disease - free herds and to divide the cattle ­
farming land into sectors that could qUickly be sealed off in the event of an outbreak.
Various veterinary cordon fences were set up to criss-cross the northern areas of
Botswana as this was often where the outbreaks first occurred. Such fences
included the Kuke fence which was constructed in 1958 to form the southern
boundary of the Ngamiland District. The purpose of this fence, together with the
Dibete cordon fence, was to prevent the movement of cattle south, and reduce the
threat of Foot and Mouth Disease spreading southwards. The Buffalo Fence and the
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