Tour operators claim the unholy trinity of President Ian Khama, Wilderness Safaris and National Geographic Derrick Joubert conspired to ban trophy hunting in Botswana.
The conspiracy theory is backed by the web of business interests and social ties connecting President Khama, Joubert and Wilderness Safaris. President Khama is a shareholder in Wilderness Safaris and a friend to Joubert, the National Geographic Filmmaker. Joubert on the other hand also has a business relationship with Wilderness Safaris. His company Great Plains was at the time the decision to ban trophy hunting, marketed by Wilderness Safaris. Both Wilderness Safaris and Great Plains have not invested in photographic safaris.
The ban on trophy hunting was the highest watermark in the intense rivalry between hunting safaris and photographic safaris in Botswana. In their website, Wilderness Safaris makes a veiled reference to the rivalry. The tourism company which prides itself in being motivated by the concern that “the world’s – most unique areas would be under threat and lost to future generations” states that “we then realised that we too are part of this wild place, that as custodians of our planet we need to do all we can to protect these places; that there are real choices we can make.” “Wilderness Safaris was established in 1983 by a group of individuals who had a dream; a dream to share some of the most remote wilderness areas on the African sub-continent with guests from all over the world, in a way that lightly touched the environment but left a big imprint on the soul”, states the website. At the time, states the website, “Botswana was a little-known safari destination. Photographic safaris were generally restricted to using the national parks, while hunting safari companies controlled large tracts of the Okavango Delta.” Now with the hunting ban, photographic safaris have finally won against hunting safaris.
Joubert has in the past confirmed meeting Khama were he raised concerns about trophy hunting. In a curious coincidence, Khama, Joubert and Wilderness safaris are not only friends and business associates, but also share a common position against trophy hunting.
Wilderness Safari, Managing Director, Grant Woodrow would not deny that Wilderness Safaris marketed Jourbet’s company comprised of camps in the delta.
Woodrow, however, was quick to point out that they have since stopped marketing Jourbet’s company eight months ago. Woodrow said every individual in the tourism industry will have different opinions on the hunting ban. He said that the relationship with the film maker’s business had no influence in the hunting ban.
He insisted that Wilderness Safaris never influenced the decision to ban trophy hunting in Botswana.
He emphasised that Wilderness Safari was only marketing Great Plains camp sites to international clients. Joubert who has not denied meeting with Khama stated that he never directly influenced the trophy hunting ban. Joubert explained that he only raised concern with Khama about the declining wildlife species in the delta. His concerns were, however, dismissed by some tour operators and researchers as “Hollywood hysteria” with no scientific facts. A tour operator who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed that Joubert was sponsored by government to promote his wildlife film internationally while also marketing his tourism company.
A Researcher and Director at Okavango Research Centre (ORC) Professor Joseph Mbaiwa told Sunday Standard recently that the decision to ban trophy hunting was motivated by politics and not scientific research. Professor Mbaiwa proposed that government should come up with policies barring political leaders from owning shares in the tourism industry to avoid a situation where they make decisions that only serve their personal interest.
