CHAPTER 38:01
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND NATIONAL PARKS
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
PART I
Preliminary
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Wildlife officers
4. Honorary officers
PART II
National Parks, Game Reserves, Sanctuaries and Private Game Reserves
5. Declaration of national parks
6. Control of national parks
7. Entry into national parks
8. Certain acts in a park prohibited
9. Regulations in respect of national parks
10. Mining in a national park
11. Offences in a national park
12. Game reserves and sanctuaries
13. Private game reserves
14. Regulations in respect of reserves and sanctuaries
PART III
Wildlife Management Areas and Controlled Hunting Areas
15. Wildlife management areas
16. Controlled hunting areas
16A. Declaration of controlled fishing waters
PART IV
Protected Game Animals
17. Protected fish and game animals
PART V
Hunting and Capture of Animals
18. Partially protected game animals
19. Hunting and capturing of animals generally
20. Landholder's privileges
21. Use of landholder's privileges for profit
22. Record of animals killed in exercise of landholder's privileges
23. Permission or authority of owner or occupier of land
PART VI
Game Farms and Ranches
24. Game farms and ranches
25. Regulations in respect of game farms or ranches
PART VII
Licences to Hunt
26. Game licences
26A. Fishing licences
27. Bird licence
28. Single game licence
29. Small game licence
30. Special game licence
31. Issue of licences
32. Number of licences and animals
33. Disqualification for grant of licence
34. Hunting card
35. Refund of licence fees
36. Open season
37. Loss or destruction of licence
38. Register of animals killed
PART VIII
Permits
39. Permits that may be granted by the Director
40. Permits which licensing officer may grant
41. Conditions applicable to permits
42. Appeal to the Minister
PART IX
General Provisions with Regard to Hunting
43. Professional guides
44. Professional hunters
45. Prohibition of certain activities in specified areas
46. Killing of animals causing damage
47. Killing of animals in self defence
48. Killing of animals by accident or in error
49. Hunting or capturing of animals without permission of land owner or occupier
50. Conveyance of loaded weapon in certain circumstances
51. Killing of dogs in certain circumstances
52. Prohibition of certain activities in specified areas
53. Permission in respect of tribal land
54. Wounding of animals
55. Hunting or capturing by night
56. Hunting or capturing during close season
57. Unlawful methods of hunting
58. Elephant and buffalo hunting
59. Killing of lion or leopard
60. Sale of animals or parts or eggs thereof
61. Purchases of animals or parts or eggs thereof
PART X
Export and Import of Animals, Trophies and Meat of Animals, and Sale and Manufacture of Articles from Trophies
62. Export and import of animals, etc.
63. Export duty to be paid
64. Dealing in trophies
65. Trophy dealer's licence
66. Records and returns by trophy dealers
PART XI
Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn
67. Killing of elephant and rhinoceros
68. Ivory or tusks imported into or acquired in Botswana
69. Transfer of ivory
70. Rhinoceros horn
PART XII
Government Trophies
71. Government trophies
PART XIII
Evidence, Prevention and Detection of Offences and Forfeitures
72. Evidence and presumptions
73. Powers of wildlife officers, gate attendants and police officers
74. Erection of road barriers
75. Forfeitures, etc.
76. Admission of guilt
77. Magistrates' courts' special jurisdiction
78. Alternative verdicts
79. Second or subsequent offence
PART XIV
General
80. Destruction of animals by wildlife officers in certain circumstances
81. Hunting in forest areas
82. Keeping of animals
83. Rights of ownership in animals
84. Powers of licence and permit holders etc. in respect of other hunters
85. Personation of officers etc.
86. Delivery of firearms to gate attendant
87. Freedom from liability
88. Directions by Minister
89. Minister's licence
90. Power to suspend, etc., operation of Act
91. Amendment of Schedules
92. Regulations
93. Payment of fees to district councils
94. Repeal and saving
First Schedule - National Parks
Second Schedule - Game Reserves and Sanctuaries
Third Schedule - Wildlife Management Areas
Fourth Schedule - Controlled Hunting Areas
Fifth Schedule - CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
Sixth Schedule - Protected Game Animals
Seventh Schedule - Game Animals and Birds
Eighth Schedule - Maximum Number of Animals which may be Killed by virtue of Landholders' Privileges during any one Period Specified
Ninth Schedule - Dangerous Animals
Tenth Schedule - Notice of Intended Prosecution
Act 28, 1992,
Act 16, 1993,
S.I. 31, 1994,
S.I. 61, 1995,
S.I. 86, 1995,
S.I. 28, 1999,
S.I. 65, 2007,
S.I. 80, 2007,
Act 15, 2023,
S.I. 122, 2023,
S.I. 16, 2024,
S.I. 74, 2024.
An Act to make further and better provision for the conservation and management of the wildlife of Botswana, giving effect to CITES and any other international convention for the protection of fauna and flora to which Botswana is, from time to time, a party, to provide for the establishment, control and management of national parks and game reserves, and for matters incidental thereto or connected therewith.
[Date of Commencement: 11th December, 1992]
PART I
Preliminary (ss 1-4)
This Act may be cited as the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act.
(1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires?
"animal" means any vertebrate, invertebrate animal or fish, bird and the eggs and young thereof, but does not include a domestic animal or bird, or the eggs and the young thereof;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"capture" includes any act immediately directed at the taking alive of any animal or the taking of any nest, eggs or young of any animal;
"CITES" means the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to which Botswana is a Party as set out in the Fifth Schedule to this Act, and includes any Appendices thereto and any Resolutions of the Conferences of the Parties;
"close season", in relation to any game animal and any area, means any period which is not an open season in respect of that animal and that area;
"commercial fishing" means the catching of fish by the use of factory-made gill nets or any gill net made out of factory-made materials including leads, twines or cork;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"controlled fishing waters" means a river, stream, lake, dam or reservoir;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"controlled hunting area" means an area of land declared to be a controlled hunting area under section 16 and specified in the Fourth Schedule;
"dangerous animal" means any animal specified as a dangerous animal in the Ninth Schedule;
"Director" means any person for the time being holding the public office of Director of Wildlife and National Parks;
"district office" means an office of a district administrative officer;
"domestic animal" means any horse, mare, gelding, ass, mule, bull, cow, ox, ram, ewe, wether, goat, pig, camel, dog or cat, commonly regarded as a domestic animal, or the young of any such animal;
"domestic bird" means any fowl, duck, goose, turkey, or pigeon commonly regarded as a domestic bird or the eggs or young thereof;
"fish" includes any marine species, shellfish, finfish and their spat, brood, fry, spawn, ova and young thereof;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"fishing" means an act directed at the taking, catching, killing or injuring of fish including for commercial, recreational and, subsistence purposes;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"fishing licence" means an authorised written document issued to a person to permit fishing;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"game" or "game animal" means any animal specified in the Sixth and Seventh Schedules of this Act;
"game reserve" means an area of land declared to be a game reserve by or under section 12 and specified in the Second Schedule;
"gate attendant" means any person employed in a national park or game reserve as a gate attendant;
"Government trophy" means anything which under this Act is declared to be a Government trophy;
"honorary officer" means a person appointed as an honorary officer under section 4;
"horn" includes rhinoceros horn;
"hunt" means and includes?
(a) kill, injure, shoot at or follow;
(b) wilfully disturb or molest by any method;
(c) lie in wait for, or search for, with intent to kill, injure or shoot at;
"ivory" means elephant ivory in whatever form;
"land board" means a land board established as such under the provisions of the Tribal Land Act;
"licence" means a licence issued under this Act;
"licensing officer" means a person appointed as a licensing officer under section 3;
"meat" includes the fat, blood and flesh of any animal, whether fresh, dried, tinned or otherwise preserved;
"national park" means a national park declared as such under this Act and specified in the First Schedule;
"night" in any year from the 1st March to 30th September means the period of time between half past six in the evening and six o'clock in the morning, and from the 1st October to the last day of February means the period of time between half past seven in the evening and half past five o'clock in the morning;
"non-designated animal" means any animal which is not a game animal;
"occupier", in relation to land, means the person in actual lawful occupation of the land who has the right to exercise general control over such land and actually resides thereon;
"open season", in relation to any game animal, other than a protected game animal, and any area, means the period declared by the Minister under section 36 as the period during which such game animal may be lawfully hunted in such area;
"owner", in relation to any land, means?
(a) in the case of private land, the person in whose name such land is registered in the Deeds Registry;
(b) in the case of land vested in a city or town council or a township authority, the said council or authority;
(c) in the case of State Land, the President;
(d) in the case of a tribal area, the land board established in respect of that tribal area;
"partially protected game animal" means any animal which is so declared under section 18 and specified in Part I of the Seventh Schedule;
"permit" means a permit granted in accordance with the provisions of section 39 or section 40 of this Act;
"possession" shall have the same meaning as is given to the word "possession" in section 2 of the Penal Code;
"private game reserve" means an area of land declared to be a private game reserve under section 13;
"private land" means any land the ownership of which has, by law, grant or title deed, become vested in any person other than the State or a tribe;
"professional guide" means any person, other than a tracker, driver, beater, bearer or domestic servant who, for hire or reward, conducts or assists any other person or party for the purpose of visiting, viewing or photographing animals or places of interest or beauty, or of botanical, historical, geological, ethnological or archaeological significance, or for the purpose of sport fishing, but which purpose shall not include the hunting or capture of animals;
"professional hunter" means any person who, for hire or reward, conducts hunting or photographic parties, or any person other than a tracker, driver, beater, bearer or domestic servant who, for hire or reward, assists any person or party in the hunting or photographing of any animal;
"protected game animal" means any animal which is so declared under section 17 and specified in the Sixth Schedule;
"purchase" includes barter or exchange;
"recreational fishing" means fishing done on the basis of leisure and sport, using rod and line;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"sanctuary" means an area of land declared to be a sanctuary under the provisions of this Act;
"season" means, in relation to any game animal and any area, the open season or, where no open season has been declared, a year commencing on the first Tuesday in April in such year;
"sell" means sell, barter, exchange, hawk, offer or expose for sale;
"subsistence fishing" means fishing using traditional fishing gear for personal and household consumption only;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"traditional fishing gear" means gear manufactured in an artisanal manner making use of natural materials available from the natural environment;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"trap" means any net, rod, hook, spring, gin, snare, contrivance or device by means of which an animal can be captured, netted or snared;
"tribal area" has the same meaning as in the Tribal Land Act (Cap. 32:02);
"tribe" has the same meaning as in the Bogosi Act (Cap. 41:01), and includes a tribal community as defined in that Act;
"trophy" means any horn, ivory, tooth, tusk, bone, claw, hoof, hide, skin, hair, feather, egg or other durable portion whatsoever of any animal, whether processed or not, which is recognizable as a durable portion of such animal;
"trophy dealer" means a person who carries on the business of buying trophies for resale or export, or who carries on the business of processing trophies;
"vessel" includes boat, ship, craft, yacht, ferry, and dugout canoe;
[15 of 2023, s. 2]
"water installation" means a canal, channel, reservoir, embankment, weir, dam, borehole, well, pipeline, pumping plant, filter-bed, filter, purification plant, machinery, appliance, apparatus, fitting or accessory or anything constructed, erected or used for or in connection with the impounding, storage, passage, drainage, control or abstraction of water, or the development of water power, or the filtration or purification of water, or the use of water, or the conservation of rainfall;
"weapon" means any firearm or ammunition therefor, or any other instrument capable of propelling a projectile or capable of being propelled or used in such manner that any animal can be killed or injured thereby;
"wildlife management area" means an area of land declared to be a wildlife management area under section 15 and specified in the Third Schedule;
"wildlife officer" means any person for the time being holding the public office of Director or any other public officer of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks charged with the implementation and administration of the provisions of this Act, and, to the extent to which an honorary officer is permitted to act, includes an honorary officer.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed to be a resident of Botswana if?
(a) he is a public officer or a teacher employed by the Unified Teaching Service, or the spouse or child of such an officer or teacher;
(b) he is a member of a class of persons designated for the purposes of this subsection by the Minister by notice in the Gazette; or
(c) he holds a residence permit or an exemption certificate which he has held for a continuous period of 12 months, and has been present within Botswana for at least 9 months of the immediately preceding period of 12 months.
(1) There shall be designated a public officer to be the Director of Wildlife and National Parks, and there shall be within the public service such wildlife officers as are necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Director shall designate suitable wildlife officers to be licensing officers for the purposes of this Act.
(3) The Director shall be the Scientific Authority and the Management Authority for the purposes of CITES in respect of animals, but may delegate his responsibilities as such Authorities under this Act to any other officers and or institutions beyond the Department of Wildlife and National Parks subject to his own overriding control.
[15 of 2023, s. 3.]
(1) The Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, appoint fit and proper persons to be honorary officers for the purpose of assisting in carrying out the duties imposed on wildlife officers by this Act.
(2) In carrying out their duties under this Act, honorary officers shall have such powers as are conferred by the Act on wildlife officers, unless otherwise specifically provided.
(3) An honorary officer shall hold office for a period of three years, unless the Minister sooner revokes his appointment, and shall be eligible to be re-appointed.
PART II
National Parks, Game Reserves, Sanctuaries and Private Game Reserves (ss 5-14)
5. Declaration of national parks
(1) Any area specified in the First Schedule to this Act is hereby declared to be a national park for the propagation, protection and preservation therein of wild animal life, vegetation and objects of geological, ethnological, archaeological, historical or other scientific interest for the benefit and advantage and enjoyment of the inhabitants of Botswana.
(2) The President may, by order published in the Gazette, declare any area of State Land or any land bequeathed or donated to him or to any other person, to be a national park, either on its own or adding it to an existing national park:
Provided that the President shall not declare to be a national park or add to a national park any land so bequeathed or donated to any other person or persons, unless he is satisfied that such person has or all such persons have, as the case may be, consented thereto.
(3) Where circumstances exist that in his opinion so warrant, the President may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the boundaries of a national park by adding new areas thereto or by excising part thereof.
(4) Before the President makes an order under subsection (2) or subsection (3), the Minister shall cause public notice of the intended order to be given, and shall, in such notice, call for any intended objections to such order to be lodged, in writing, with him within such reasonable time as shall be specified, and any objections so received shall be laid before the President for his consideration.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) "public notice" means a notice published once in the Government Gazette and at least once during each of three successive weeks in a newspaper circulating in the area to which the notice relates, the first insertion in the newspaper being made in the same week as the publication in the Government Gazette.
(6) Any order made under subsection (2) shall be laid before Parliament as soon as possible after it has been published in the Gazette, and shall, unless confirmed by resolution of Parliament during the session it is so laid before it, lapse and cease to have effect as from the date of the conclusion of that session.
(1) The Minister shall be responsible for the control, management and maintenance of national parks, and without derogation from the generality of the foregoing the Minister shall for such purposes, within such parks, have power to?
(a) construct such roads, bridges, aerodromes, soil and water conservation works, irrigation works, buildings and fences, and to carry out such other works as he may consider necessary for the purposes of such national parks;
(b) take such steps as will ensure the security of the animals and vegetation in national parks and the preservation of such parks and the animals and vegetation therein in a natural state;
(c) reserve or set aside any areas of such parks as breeding places for indigenous animals, and nurseries for indigenous trees, shrubs, plants and flowers;
(d) let sites for the erection of shops, hotels, restaurants or other buildings for the accommodation or recreation of visitors, to let sites to yachting clubs, boating clubs, boatwrights and persons plying boats for hire, and to control the manner in which such undertakings are carried on;
(e) construct, maintain, administer or let hotels, restaurants, rest camps and other buildings and let accommodation therein;
(f) control the charges which may be made by shopkeepers, hotel keepers, restaurant proprietors, boatwrights and persons plying boats for hire;
(g) sell or exchange any specimen of animal or vegetation in a national park;
(h) purchase, exchange or otherwise acquire any specimen of indigenous animal or vegetation which he may consider it desirable to introduce into a national park;
(i) authorise any person to take or collect and remove any specimen of animal or vegetation from a national park, or do anything otherwise prohibited under this Act, for scientific purposes;
(j) authorise any scientific investigations on such terms and conditions as he may approve; and
(k) authorise the killing or capturing of any animal, or the destruction or removal of any species of vegetation in the interest of the conservation of the fauna and flora of such parks, and of their management and control.
(2) The Minister may delegate to the Director or to any wildlife officer such of his powers under this section as he considers necessary or desirable.
(1) Except as is otherwise provided in this Act, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, no person other than a wildlife officer or a gate attendant shall enter, be in or reside in a national park except under and in accordance with the permission of the Minister or of any wildlife officer authorised to grant such permission:
Provided that?
(i) the Minister may by notice exhibited at the entrance to a national park grant permission to persons to enter therein on such days and during such hours as may be stated in the notice, and on payment of such fees and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations;
(ii) this subsection shall not apply to persons in the employment of the Government who, with the written permission of the Director enter, are in or reside in a national park in the execution of their official duties as employees of the Government.
(2) Permission may be given in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed or as may be deemed necessary by the person granting permission, and shall be granted only for the purposes of?
(a) health, study or recreation, or matters incidental thereto;
(b) travel or transport along such roads as may be prescribed;
(c) transacting any lawful business with or concerning any person within a national park,
or if the person seeking permission was, or belongs to a community which was, resident in the national park prior to the date when the area was declared as a national park.
8. Certain acts in a park prohibited
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), no person other than a wildlife officer or a gate attendant acting in the exercise of his official duties or any other employee of the Government with the written permission of the Director and acting in the exercise of his official duties as such employee, shall?
(a) convey into or be in possession of any weapon, explosive, trap or poison within a national park;
(b) without lawful excuse, be in possession of, or kill, hunt, injure, capture or disturb any animal, or take or destroy any egg or nest, in a national park;
(c) cause any damage to or disturb any object of geological, ethnological, historical, archaeological or other scientific interest within a national park, or remove any such object from a national park;
(d) introduce any wild or domestic animal or any fish or any vegetation into a national park, or permit any domestic animal to stray into a national park;
(e) remove from a national park any animal or part of an animal or any vegetation, whether alive or dead, other than an animal he has lawfully introduced into the park;
(f) cut, damage or destroy any tree or other vegetation in a national park;
(g) erect any structure, whether permanent or otherwise, or make any road or airstrip, or otherwise alter the natural environment, except as may be expressly permitted by the Minister or by a wildlife officer authorised to give such permission;
(h) destroy or deface any object, whether animate or inanimate, in a national park; or
(i) wilfully or negligently cause any veld fire in a national park.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), it shall not be an offence for any person?
(a) to kill any dangerous animal in a national park where such killing is necessary in defence of human life or to prevent the infliction of personal injury; or
(b) with the permission of the Minister or a wildlife officer authorised to grant such permission, to convey into or through a national park any animal or weapon required in connection with lawful travel or transport in or through a national park, or lawful residence or sojourn therein.
(3)(a) Any domestic animal found within a national park, other than an animal in the lawful possession of a wildlife officer or a gate attendant, or introduced into the park in accordance with subsection (2)(b), may be destroyed by a wildlife officer or a park attendant.
(b) Any vegetation introduced into a national park in contravention of the provisions of this Act may be destroyed by or on the instructions of a wildlife officer.
9. Regulations in respect of national parks
Regulations made by the Minister under section 92 may, in respect of national parks, include the following?
(a) the powers and duties of wildlife officers and gate attendants in relation to national parks;
(b) the exclusion of members of the public from certain areas within a park;
(c) the killing, capturing or impounding of any animal within a park and the disposal thereof;
(d) the burning of grass and the cutting of trees and vegetation within a park;
(e) the conditions subject to which permission to enter, be or reside in a park may be granted under section 7, and the periods or times during which a park or any part thereof shall be open to the public;
(f) the conditions under which domestic animals may be introduced into and conveyed through a park in accordance with the provisions of section 8(2)(b);
(g) the conditions under which the services or attendance of wildlife officers or gate attendants may be obtained by any person entering, passing through or sojourning within a park, and the fees to be paid in respect of such services or attendance;
(h) the protection and preservation of parks and of the animal life and vegetation therein in a natural state;
(i) the regulation of traffic and the carriage of passengers in a park, including the closing of public roads as defined in the Public Roads Act and other roads, at specified times;
(j) conditions governing the use therein of vehicles, aeroplanes and microlight aircraft;
(k) defining and controlling the points at which persons may enter a park and the roads by which they may pass through a park;
(l) the protection from damage or defacement, by writing or other wise, of any tree, rock, bridge, fence, seat or any other object in a park;
(m) the regulation, control, restriction or prohibition of boating and yachting on, or fishing in, any waters in a park, the issue of permits or licences in respect therefor and any fees to be paid in respect thereof;
(n) any matter, including the setting up of local committees, to advise on the administration of any park, and defining the functions of such committees; and
(o) the fees, if any, to be paid by persons entering therein or doing any specified thing therein or for the use of any article or facility therein.
Subject to any mining rights lawfully acquired in any area by any person before the date on which such area became a national park, any prospecting or mining in the area or the acquisition of any prospecting or mining rights in the area in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act shall be prohibited except with the written permission of the Minister.
11. Offences in a national park
(1) Any person who kills, hunts or captures any animal in a national park shall be guilty of an offence and without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act shall be liable to a fine of P10 000 and to imprisonment for 7 years.
(2) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any other provision of section 7(1), 8(1) or 10 shall be guilty of an offence and without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act shall be liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
12. Game reserves and sanctuaries
(1) Each of the areas defined in the Second Schedule is hereby declared to be a game reserve or a sanctuary in respect of the animals, species, or variety, specimen or sex of animal specified in relation thereto.
(2) The President may, from time to time, by order published in the Gazette declare any other area of land to be a game reserve or a sanctuary, or alter the boundaries of, or abolish, any game reserve or sanctuary:
Provided that in respect of any particular game reserve or sanctuary, the President may declare that it shall be a game reserve or a sanctuary only in respect of animals of such species, variety, specimen or sex of animal or animals as may be specified, and may amend any such declaration.
(3) In any game reserve or sanctuary, no person shall hunt or capture any animal, or species or variety, specimen or sex of any animal specified in relation to such game reserve or sanctuary, except only under and in accordance with the terms and conditions of a permit issued under section 39, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and, without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act, shall be liable to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(1) The owner of private land may apply in writing to the President to have his land declared a private game reserve, and the President may, by order published in the Gazette, and subject to such terms and conditions as the President may determine, declare such land to be a private game reserve for the protection and preservation therein of all wild animal life or of such species or variety of animals as may be specified in the order.
(2) The President may similarly amend or revoke an order published under this section.
(3) Within a private game reserve, no person shall hunt or capture any animal or any species or variety of animal which is specified in the order declaring it to be a private game reserve, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and, without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act, shall be liable to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years:
Provided that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the hunting or capture of an animal by the owner of the land, or by a person acting under his written authority, when such hunting or capture is under and in accordance with such terms and conditions as were determined by the President under subsection (1), or as the Director may, in the interest of proper wildlife management, approve.
14. Regulations in respect of reserves and sanctuaries
Regulations made by the Minister under section 92 may, with regard to game reserves, sanctuaries and private game reserves, or any one such reserve or sanctuary, or any part thereof, include the following?
(a) the administration thereof;
(b) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of entry therein, passage through or sojourn therein;
(c) the control of persons who, or animals, including domestic animals, which are therein, either permanently or temporarily;
(d) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of introduction therein, passage or conveyance through or keeping therein of any domestic animal;
(e) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of the burning of vegetation or the felling, cutting and removal of trees therein or therefrom;
(f) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of the searching for honey therein or the removal of honey therefrom;
(g) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of fishing therein;
(h) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation of the carrying or possession of weapons therein;
(i) conditions governing the use therein of vehicles, aeroplanes, microlight aircraft and boats; and
(j) the fees, if any, to be paid by persons entering therein or doing any specified thing therein or for the use of any article or facility therein.
PART III
Wildlife Management Areas and Controlled Hunting Areas (ss 15-16)
(1) The areas specified in the Third Schedule are hereby declared to be wildlife management areas.
(2) The President may, by order published in the Gazette, declare any area to be a wildlife management area, or in like manner abolish any such wildlife management area, or amend the boundaries of any such wildlife management area by adding new areas or by deleting areas.
(3) Regulations made by the Minister under section 92 may, in respect of wildlife management areas or any wildlife management area, include the following?
(a) any matter referred to in section 14 paragraphs (a) to (i), except paragraph (g);
(b) the hunting or capture of animals therein by virtue of any licence or permit to hunt or capture;
(c) the erection of any dwelling house or other building therein, or the residence therein of any person, or the size of any settlement therein;
(d) the grazing of any stock therein and any conditions or limitations concerning the husbandry of stock therein;
(e) the cultivation of any land therein, the conditions under which persons may cultivate, and the allocation of land for cultivation;
(f) conditions governing the drilling, allocation and use of boreholes;
(g) conditions governing the use therein of vehicles, aeroplanes, microlight aircraft and boats;
(h) the entry or the presence therein of persons other than residents thereof; and
(i) the culling of animals therein in accordance with any approved game animal utilisation scheme.
(4) In his duties relating to the development of wildlife management areas, their management plans and their administration, the Director shall consult with the land boards and district councils responsible for the areas concerned.
(1) The areas specified in the Fourth Schedule are hereby declared to be controlled hunting areas.
(2) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, declare any area of land in Botswana to be a controlled hunting area, and may, in like manner, abolish declared controlled hunting areas or amend the boundaries of declared controlled hunting areas by adding other areas thereto or by deleting areas therefrom.
(3) Except for persons authorised therefor under sections 30, 39 and 40, and notwithstanding the issue of any licence to hunt under this Act, no person shall hunt or capture any animal in a controlled hunting area without such authority to hunt in that area as shall be endorsed on his licence, and without paying such fee, as may be prescribed.
(4) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, direct that any fees collected in accordance with subsection (3), shall be paid to such district council or councils as may be specified in the order.
(5) Any person hunting in a controlled hunting area shall, as soon as possible and in any event within 7 days of the completion of such hunting, unless otherwise authorised by a licensing officer and endorsed on his licence, report such completion to a wildlife officer, and any person who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and imprisonment for 6 months.
(6) Any person hunting or capturing any animal in a controlled hunting area without such authority and paying such fee as may be prescribed in accordance with subsection (3), or contrary to the terms of such authority, shall be guilty of an offence and, without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act, shall be liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
16A. Declaration of controlled fishing waters
(1) The Minister may, in the interests of conservation, by Order published in the Gazette, declare any waters to be controlled fishing waters and shall invite any person who wishes to make representations in regard to the matter to do so in writing, on or before a date to be specified in the notice and shall consider every representation made.
(2) For the purpose of fish conservation within any controlled fishing waters the Minister may?
(a) make regulations for the more effective control, protection, introduction, movement and sale of fish, use and sale of gill nets, the control of fishing waters in which fishing may be carried on or prohibition of fishing, the use of some types of fishing methods in such waters and the use of fishing vessels; or
(b) take such measures as he considers necessary or desirable to?
(i) reduce or increase fish populations in such waters, or
(ii) eradicate or encourage plant growth within such waters or on the banks thereof.
(3) No person shall fish in any waters, other than those specified in an order made in terms of subsection (1) or in terms of a permit issued under the provisions of this Act for such waters.
(4) The Minister may, by Order published in the Gazette, specify any waters for which a permit to fish, issued in terms of section 39 shall not be required.
(5) Any person who contravenes subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P1 000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year, or to both.
[15 of 2023, s. 4]
PART IV
Protected Game Animals (s 17)
17. Protected fish and game animals
(1) The animals specified in the Sixth Schedule shall be protected fish and game animals throughout Botswana.
[15 of 2023, s. 5]
(2) No person shall, except in accordance with the terms and conditions of a permit issued by the Director under section 39 or section 40, fish, hunt or capture any protected fish or game animal.
[15 of 2023, s. 5]
(3) Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P10 000 or to imprisonment for 7 years, or to both:
Provided that, where the animal in respect of which the offence is committed is a rhinoceros, the person shall be liable to a fine of P100 000 or to imprisonment for 15 years, or to both.
[15 of 2023, s. 5]
PART V
Hunting and Capturing of Animals (ss 18-23)
18. Partially protected game animals
The animals specified in Part I of the Seventh Schedule shall be partially protected game animals throughout Botswana, and no person shall, except under and in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence or permit issued under this Act, hunt or capture any partially protected game animal.
19. Hunting and capturing of animals generally
(1) A person shall not hunt or capture any animal (other than a non-designated invertebrate animal outside of a national park or a game reserve) otherwise than in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued, or a permit granted, under this Act:
Provided that a citizen of Botswana may hunt any non-designated animal, other than in a national park or a game reserve, for consumption by himself or his dependants, without a licence or permit.
[15 of 2023, s. 6]
(2) The animals specified in Parts II and III of the Seventh Schedule are animals that may be captured or hunted in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued under this Act:
Provided that where an area is specified or areas are specified in relation to a particular animal, that animal may only be captured or hunted in that area or areas, as the case may be.
[15 of 2023, s. 6]
(3) No person shall engage in commercial or recreational fishing except in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued, or a permit issued in accordance with section 39.
[15 of 2023, s. 6]
(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply to subsistence fishing or aquaculture.
[15 of 2023, s. 6]
(5) Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 18 or subsections (1) or (3) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable if the contravention is in respect of?
(a) fish, to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year;
(b) a partially protected game animal, to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years:
Provided that where the animal in respect of which the offence is committed is an elephant, the offender shall be liable to a fine of P50 000 and to imprisonment for 10 years;
(c) an animal specified in Part II of the Seventh Schedule, to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years;
(d) an animal specified in Part III of the Seventh Schedule, to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year;
(e) a bird specified in Part III of the Seventh Schedule, to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year; and
(f) any non-designated animal, or in respect of any term or condition of any licence or permit issued to that person, to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
[15 of 2023, s. 6]
(1) A person shall be entitled to landholder's privileges under this section if?
(a) he is the owner of private land or the owner of not less than a quarter undivided share in private land in Botswana;
(b) in the case of land elsewhere than in a game reserve or national park, he is the occupier of such land under an agreement of lease or of purchase granted to him by the State or a land board other than for the purpose of hunting;
(c) he is the occupier of private land in Botswana and has occupied that land for the immediately preceding period of not less than three months and has the written permission of the owner of the land to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of that land, which written permission shall be in such form as may be prescribed.
(2) A person shall be entitled to enjoy landholder's privileges under this section if?
(a) he is the bona fide employee of any person such as is referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (1)(b) and has the written permission of that person to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of the land in question, which written permission shall be in such form as may be prescribed;
(b) he is the bona fide employee of any person such as is referred to in subsection (1)(c) and has the written permission of the owner of the land in question to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of such land, which written permission shall be in such form as may be prescribed;
(c) he is the spouse or child of any person such as is referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (1)(b);
(d) he is the spouse or child of any person such as is referred to in subsection (1)(c) or (2)(b) and has the written permission of the owner of the land in question to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of that land, which written permission shall be in such form as may be prescribed;
(e) he is the spouse or child of any person such as is referred to in subsection (2)(a) and has the written permission of the employer of that person to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of the land in question, which written permission shall be in such form as may be prescribed.
(3) No person shall be entitled to landholder's privileges or to enjoy landholder's privileges under this section unless he is a citizen or resident of Botswana, or, being a company, has its registered office in Botswana, or at least 51% of its beneficial shareholders are citizens of Botswana, or the Minister has, by notice in writing, declared, in the interests of wildlife management, that such person shall be entitled to such privileges.
(4) A person shall be entitled to landholder's privileges or to enjoy landholder's privileges under this section only in respect of the land from which in terms of this section the privileges are derived.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an individual entitled to landholder's privileges or to enjoy landholder's privileges in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) or subsection (2) may, subject to such fees as may be prescribed, hunt and kill, without a licence or permit, any animals, other than protected and partially protected game animals, within the limits of the land in respect of which he is entitled to or to enjoy such privileges, but shall not kill any animal which is listed in the Eighth Schedule in excess of the number specified in relation to that animal in the second column of that Schedule within any one period such as is specified in the corresponding entry in the third column of that Schedule.
(6) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence and, where no other penalty is provided under this Act in respect of the hunting of the animal concerned, shall be liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
(7) Where, in any case such as is referred to in subsection (2), the owner or occupier of land has given written permission under this section to another person to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of that land, the owner or occupier may, by notice in writing to that person, at any time withdraw such permission, and such notice shall have the effect of cancelling that person's entitlement to enjoy landholder's privileges in respect of that land with effect from the time when the notice is personally delivered to him.
(8) The owner or occupier of land in respect of which he is entitled to landholder's privileges shall not give permission to any other person to hunt and kill any game animal on such land unless such other person is either the holder of a valid licence or permit entitling or authorising him to hunt and kill such animal on such land, or is otherwise entitled to hunt and kill such animal on such land, and any owner or occupier who contravenes the provisions of this subsection and has failed to take all reasonable steps to satisfy himself that such other person was so entitled or authorised to hunt and kill such animal on that land shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
21. Use of landholder's privileges for profit
Any owner or occupier of land entitled to landholder's privileges may, for his own profit, with the approval of the Director, authorise, in writing, any person who is not so entitled, to hunt on such land those animals that he himself would be entitled to hunt:
Provided that?
(a) nothing in this section shall entitle or authorise such person to hunt any animal on such land without being in possession of such licence or permit to hunt such animal as may be otherwise prescribed in this Act; and
(b) the owner or occupier shall not give such authority unless he has taken all reasonable steps to satisfy himself that such person is in possession of such licence or permit, and any owner or occupier who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
22. Record of animals killed in exercise of landholder's privileges
(1) Every owner or occupier of land in respect of which he is entitled to landholder's privileges, shall keep and maintain a record of every animal killed on that land by himself or by any other person hunting on that land with his permission or authority, and shall make that record available forthwith for inspection by any wildlife officer or any police officer who requires him so to do.
(2) The record maintained under this section shall contain, in respect of every animal killed, the following particulars?
(a) its species and sex;
(b) the date on which it was killed;
(c) the location where it was killed;
(d) the full name of the person who killed it.
(3) Every owner or occupier of land in respect of which he is entitled to landholder's privileges shall, not later than the 15th February in each year, produce to a licensing officer, the record kept by him under this section, or a true copy of every entry made therein, during the immediately preceding year commencing on the 1st January.
(4) Every owner or occupier of such land as is referred to in this section, who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
23. Permission or authority of owner or occupier of land
Any written permission or authority of the owner or occupier of land required in accordance with section 20 or section 21 shall be valid only if signed personally by such owner or occupier, or, where such owner or occupier is a company, by the person duly authorised by the company to sign such permission or authority.
PART VI
Game Farms and Ranches (ss 24-25)
(1) Any owner of land or leaseholder, or any person authorised by the Minister for the purposes of this section, who wishes to farm or ranch game animals on the land he owns or occupies may apply therefor, in such form as may be prescribed, to the Director, and the Director may, in conformity with any land use plan, and with any other written law, and subject to the payment of such fees as may be prescribed, and such terms and conditions as he considers necessary or desirable, grant such permission in writing.
(2)(a) Any permission given in accordance with subsection (1) shall be for a period of not less than 10 years, and may be renewed, or, if the applicant is a leaseholder and the unexpired portion of his lease is less than 10 years, for the period of such unexpired portion.
(b) The Director shall cause notice of such permission to be published in the Gazette, and a notice shall be posted at the entrance, or the entrances, of the farm or ranch referring to such Gazette notice.
(3) Any permission given by the Director in accordance with subsection (1) may be withdrawn by him forthwith if the person to whom such permission is given is convicted of an offence under this Act, or contravenes any of the terms and conditions subject to which such permission was given.
(4) Any person granted permission under subsection (1) shall be entitled to farm, ranch, hunt or capture animals on his land, for commercial purposes, subject to the provisions of this section and any terms and conditions subject to which such permission was granted:
Provided that protected game animals and partially protected game animals shall only be farmed, ranched, hunted or captured on such land if specifically authorised by the Director.
(5) The terms and conditions subject to which permission may be given under subsection (1), may include the requirement that the land concerned should be enclosed by a game proof fence of such type and specifications as the Director considers suitable and satisfactory.
(6) Where the game farm or ranch is enclosed by a game proof fence to the satisfaction of the Director, there shall be no limit to the number of animals that are specified in Part II of the Seventh Schedule that may be killed or captured on the farm or ranch, unless the Director otherwise directs, but where the farm or ranch is not enclosed by a game proof fence to the satisfaction of the Director, the culling of animals shall be subject to the written permission of the Director, who shall also, if satisfied that such culling is a sustainable form of game utilisation, specify the number of animals that may be culled, and such culling shall be subject to the payment of such fees as may be prescribed.
(7) Where the land in respect of which permission is granted under this section is not enclosed by a game proof fence, the Director may require that its boundaries be marked in such manner as he may specify.
(8)(a) The provisions of sections 21, 22, and 23 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, with respect to the hunting or capture of animals on game farms and ranches and the keeping of records.
(b) The provisions of section 39(1)(c) shall apply in respect of obtaining permission for the sale of animals, or meat or trophies from such animals, and such animals, meat or trophies shall not be otherwise disposed of in any manner not approved by the Director.
(9) The hunting or capture of animals on game farms or ranches may be permitted throughout the year, and at night, and in respect of animals of any age or either sex, as provided for under this Act, but unlawful methods of hunting or capture as specified under sections 55 and 57 may only be used with the written permission of the Director.
(10) The operation of a live capture business on a game farm or ranch, or anywhere else, shall only be undertaken with the written permission of the Director.
(11) Where dangerous animals, or animals not indigenous to Botswana are on a game farm or ranch in accordance with the terms and conditions of permission granted under subsection (1), the owner or occupier of such farm or ranch shall take all reasonably possible steps to ensure that they do not escape therefrom, and if they do so escape shall take all reasonably possible steps to recapture or kill them.
(12) No person shall hunt or capture any animal on a game farm or ranch, or be on such farm or ranch with intent to hunt or capture any animal, without the permission of the owner or occupier thereof.
(13) Any person who contravenes any provision of this section shall be guilty of an offence and, without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act or any other written law, shall be liable, in respect of an offence under subsections (4), (6), (8)(b) or (12) to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years, and in respect of any offence under any other subsection, to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
25. Regulations in respect of game farms or ranches
Regulations made by the Minister may, in respect of game farms or ranches, and without prejudice to his general power to make regulations, include regulations governing the conditions under which animals should be kept on a game farm or ranch, the methods of killing or capturing animals on a game farm or ranch, the fees to be paid for the killing or capturing or selling of animals on a game farm or ranch which is not enclosed by a game proof fence, and any other fees in connection with the operation of game farms or ranches.
PART VII
Licences to Hunt (ss 26-38)
Licences to hunt game shall be in such form as may be prescribed, and shall be of the following kinds?
(a) a bird licence;
(b) a single game licence;
(c) a small game licence; or
(d) a special game licence of a kind prescribed under section 30.
A fishing licence shall be in such form as may be prescribed, and may be a?
(a) commercial fishing licence; or
(b) recreational fishing licence.
[15 of 2023, s. 7.]
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a bird licence shall entitle the holder thereof to hunt such birds as are listed in Part III of the Seventh Schedule, in such areas, and in such numbers as shall be specified in the licence.
(2) A bird licence issued to a citizen or a resident of Botswana shall be issued for one year, commencing on the day of issue.
(3) A bird licence issued to a person who is neither a citizen nor a resident of Botswana may be issued for one week, one month or one year, as required, commencing on the day of issue.
(4) No person shall hold more than one bird licence at any one time.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a single game licence shall entitle the holder thereof to hunt on the land specified in the licence one animal only of such species and kind, listed in Parts I and II of the Seventh Schedule, as may be specified in the licence, and for such period only as may be therein specified.
(2) Regulations made under this Act may provide for the maximum number of valid single game licences which may be held by one person at any one time or during any year.
(3) Where a person is entitled to hunt on any land by virtue of the authority of the owner or occupier of that land in accordance with the provisions of section 21, a single game licence will only be issued to him on production of the written consent of such owner or occupier to the issue of such licence, and the withdrawal of such consent subsequent to the issue of the licence shall have the effect of cancelling such licence.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a small game licence shall entitle the holder thereof to hunt within such area or areas as may be specified in the licence, animals of such species and kind, listed in Part II of the Seventh Schedule and of such numbers as may be specified in such licence.
(2) A small game licence shall be issued only to a person who is a citizen of Botswana, and shall be valid only for the period specified therein, and only one such licence may be held by one person at any one time.
(3) Regulations made under this Act may provide for the maximum number of animals of each species and kind which may be hunted by the holder of a small game licence in any one season, the period for which such a licence may be issued, and the categories of persons to whom such a licence may be issued.
(1) Regulations made under this Act may provide for the issue of special game licences in respect of any animals other than protected game animals to citizens of Botswana who are principally dependent on hunting and gathering veld produce for their food, and such regulations may provide for?
(a) the types of special game licence which may be issued;
(b) the animals for the hunting of which each type of special game licence may be issued;
(c) the categories of persons to whom such licences may be issued;
(d) the periods for which such licences may be issued; and
(e) the maximum number of animals of each species and kind which may be hunted by virtue of such a licence in any one period, and the area or areas within which they may be hunted.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act and any regulations made thereunder, a special game licence shall entitle the holder thereof to hunt, on the land and during the period specified in the licence, animals of the kind and of the number therein specified.
(3) The holder of a special game licence shall not be entitled to and shall not be issued with any other type of licence.
(1) Every application for the issue of a licence referred to in section 26 shall be made to a licensing officer in such form as may be prescribed, and any licensing officer to whom such an application is made may, provided that the applicant is of or above the age of 15 years and subject to the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) and any regulations made under this Act, issue the licence applied for on payment of such fee as may be prescribed for that licence.
(2)(a) A licensing officer may, before issuing any licence, require the applicant to appear before him in person, to produce for inspection proof of his identity and age and such other information as he considers necessary or desirable, and any arms certificate or permit granted to him in terms of the Arms and Ammunition Act entitling him to have arms in his possession, and if the applicant fails to appear, or fails to satisfy the licensing officer on any matter arising out of his application, the licensing officer may refuse to grant the licence applied for.
(b) A licensing officer may, before issuing any licence, require the applicant to undergo such tests as he considers necessary or desirable to satisfy himself that the applicant is a fit and proper person to be granted a licence.
(3) The previous holder of a licence who has failed, without a satisfactory explanation, to keep, maintain and produce for inspection when so requested, the register required to be kept and maintained in accordance with the provisions of section 38, or has failed, without a satisfactory explanation, to submit the return required to be submitted in accordance with the provisions of section 38(3), shall have any current licence cancelled and shall not be eligible for the issue of a licence for the following season.
(4) A licensing officer shall not issue a licence to a person who is not a citizen or a resident of Botswana unless he is satisfied that such person will, at all times when hunting, be accompanied by a professional hunter, and may in any other instance when issuing a licence add as a condition of such issue that the holder of the licence shall not hunt without being accompanied by such person as he may stipulate.
(5)(a) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a licensing officer to issue the licence applied for, or by any request made by the licensing officer under subsection (2), or by any condition imposed by the licensing officer under subsection (4), may ask that the matter be referred to the Director for his decision, and the Director, after such further enquiries as he considers necessary, confirm the decision of the licensing officer, or reverse it, or vary it to such extent as he considers desirable.
(b) Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Director under paragraph (a) may appeal therefrom to the Minister, and the Minister's decision thereon shall be final.
(6) Where a licensing officer issues a licence under this section, other than a bird licence, a special game licence or a small game licence, there shall be attached to such licence as an integral part thereof a register in the prescribed form, and a detachable return in the prescribed form shall be annexed to every licence other than a bird licence and a small game licence.
(7) A licence issued under this section shall bear the stamp of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in red, and no licence shall be valid or accepted unless it is the original licence and bears such stamp.
(8) A licence issued under this section shall be personal to the person to whom it is issued and shall not be transferable, and may not be amended to permit fishing or hunting thereunder to be transferred from one controlled hunting area or controlled fishing waters to another, except in a manner as may be prescribed.
[15 of 2023, s. 8.]
32. Number of licences and animals
(1) Regulations under this Act may provide for the maximum number of licences that may be held by any person at any one time or during any one season, and the maximum number of animals of each species that may be hunted in accordance with each licence, but such regulations shall be subject to any determination made by the Director under subsection (2).
(2) The Director may, after consultation with the appropriate local authorities and land boards, determine the number of animals of each species, or of a particular sex, that may be hunted during any season in any specified controlled hunting area, or any other specified area, and shall cause to be displayed a notice to this effect, at offices of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, and at such other places as he may determine.
(3) Any person who makes any statement which to his knowledge or which he should have known is false or in any way misleading in connection with an application for a licence, which leads to or is likely to lead to his being issued with more licences than he is entitled to, or to the issue of licences purporting to entitle him to hunt more animals than he is entitled to hunt, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for one year.
33. Disqualification for grant of licence
(1) A person who has been convicted of any contravention of the provisions of the game laws of Botswana or any other country shall be disqualified for the grant of a licence under this Act for a period of three years from the date of such conviction, or for such other period as the Minister may determine in any particular case.
(2) Any person who fails to inform a licensing officer, at the time of his application for any licence under this Act, of any fact which might disqualify him for the grant of a licence, or that he has been previously refused any licence or who makes a false declaration in or in connection with an application for any such licence, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year.
(1) There shall be issued together with the first licence, other than a special game licence, to be granted to any person, a hunting card in the prescribed form, on which the holder thereof shall enter particulars of all licences, permits or other authorisations issued to or held by such person, and such other information as may be prescribed.
(2) A hunting card shall be personal to the person to whom it is issued, shall not be transferable and shall be carried by the holder at all times whilst hunting.
(3) When a hunting card has no room for further entries the holder may apply to a licensing officer for the issue of a new card, and any such new card issued shall be endorsed by the licensing officer to indicate whether it is a second or subsequent card, and shall be pinned or attached to the previous card or to all the previous cards, as the case may be.
(4) The holder of a hunting card shall make it available for inspection?
(a) when required to do so by a wildlife officer;
(b) whenever the holder applies for another licence.
(5) The loss of a hunting card shall be reported to a wildlife officer or to a police officer without delay and in any case within 30 days of the loss being detected, and if the loss is so reported, a licensing officer may issue a new hunting card to replace the one lost, on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, but shall endorse on such card the fact that it is a duplicate card.
(6) Any person who?
(a) makes a false statement to a licensing officer for the purpose of obtaining a hunting card;
(b) uses another person's hunting card;
(c) obtains or attempts to obtain another person's hunting card;
(d) fails to record on it information which he is required to record on it, or records on it information which he knows or ought to know is false or misleading; or
(e) refuses or fails to produce it for inspection when required to do so in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4), shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for six months.
The Minister may, where he considers it just, direct the refund of any licence fees, or any part thereof, to any person whose licence is surrendered or cancelled during the period of its validity:
Provided that no such refund shall be made in respect of any licence fee if the cancellation of such licence is the result of, or in connection with, a contravention of any provision of this Act.
The Minister may, from time to time, by order published in the Gazette, declare the period during which game animals may be hunted, either throughout Botswana or in any defined part of Botswana, and such order may make different provisions in respect of different areas, different species of game animals or in respect of animals of a specified sex.
37. Loss or destruction of licence
(1) If a licence is lost or destroyed, the licence holder shall, within 21 days of such loss report the event to the licensing officer who issued it, and shall at the same time furnish the licensing officer with a written statement setting out to the best of his recollection the entries that had been recorded in the register attached to the licence, or, but for the loss or destruction thereof, would have been recorded therein.
(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
38. Register of animals killed
(1) Every single game licence holder shall, in animals the register attached to his licence, make a record of any animal killed by him, including any animal killed by accident or in error, and any animal deemed to have been killed by him in terms of such licence under section 44, and any animal wounded by him.
(2) Where under this section any person is required to keep and maintain a register, he shall?
(a) where an animal is killed or deemed to have been killed by him, at the time of the killing where possible, and in any event before the animal is moved or dismembered, record the event in such register, and the date and time of the killing;
(b) where an animal is wounded, record the date time and circumstances. of the event in such register as soon as pursuit of the wounded animal is abandoned.
(3) Every licence holder shall, in addition to keeping and maintaining a register under this section, within thirty days of the termination of hunting, or of the termination of his licence, or the termination of the hunting season, whichever is the soonest, submit to a licensing officer the return attached to his licence, duly completed, whether or not any animals were killed or wounded by him in accordance with the terms of the licence.
(4) Any person who, being required under this section to keep and maintain a register, or submit a return within the specified period?
(a) fails to do so;
(b) fails to record therein any particular which he is required to record therein;
(c) makes, or is party to the making of, any false entry therein;
(d) fails to produce his register upon the request of a licensing officer or any other person entitled under this Act to request its production; or
(e) fails to furnish a true copy of his register to a licensing officer within twenty one days of being requested to do so by a licensing officer, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
PART VIII
Permits (ss 39-42)
39. Permits that may be granted by the Director
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Director may, acting in accordance with such directions as may be given by the Minister, grant permits authorising?
(a) the killing or capturing of any animal for the purposes of education or scientific research, providing specimens for museums, zoological gardens and similar institutions, or the breeding, farming or domestication of any animal;
(b) the killing or capturing of animals in the interests of the conservation, management, control or utilisation of wildlife;
(c) the selling of animals killed or captured under the authority of a licence or permit and the selling of any meat, trophy or eggs from such animals, where the Director is satisfied that such selling is in the interests of wildlife conservation and the proper regulation of commercial development connected with wildlife; or
(d) the capturing of any fish for the breeding or farming of such fish subject to fishing quotas.
[15 of 2023, s. 9.]
(2) The Director shall not grant a permit authorising the killing or capturing of any animal in a national park, game reserve or sanctuary for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (1), except only on the ground that, and where he is satisfied that, such killing or capturing is necessary for scientific purposes or for the protection of life or property, or in the interests of the conservation, management, control or utilisation of wildlife.
(3) The Director may, acting in accordance with any instructions as may be given by the Minister, delegate any of the powers referred to in subsection (1)(c) to a licensing officer.
40. Permits which licensing officer may grant
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, a licensing officer may grant a permit authorising, elsewhere than in a national park, game reserve or sanctuary?
(a) the killing, capturing and driving of animals for the purpose of the control of disease; or
(b) the killing or capturing of animals in the interests of public safety or for the protection of livestock, grazing, crops, water installations or fences.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), where the animals in respect of which the permit is sought are protected fish or game animals, the licensing officer shall refer the matter to the Director, and the Director shall grant the permit at his discretion.
[15 of 2023, s. 10.]
41. Conditions applicable to permits
(1) Every permit issued under this Act shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed and to all such other terms, conditions and requirements as the Minister, the Director or the licensing officer, as the case may be, deems fit to impose in each case, and as shall be endorsed on the permit, and any person to whom such permit is issued who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the terms, conditions or requirements subject to which it is issued shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year, and where the contravention is in respect of the killing or capturing of any animal, shall be liable to the same penalties as are provided in sections 17, 18 and 19 in respect of the hunting or capture of the same animal.
(2) The applicant for any permit which may be issued under this Act shall pay such fees as may be prescribed, unless the Minister, in any particular case, and for good cause, grants exemption from the payment of such fees.
(3) The Minister may, at any time, and without assigning a reason therefor, cancel, amend or modify a permit issued under this Act, forthwith so informing the holder of the permit, and such holder shall return such permit to the Minister for cancellation, amendment or modification, as the case may be, within 21 days from the date of his being so informed.
(4) Any permit holder who is required under subsection (3) to return such permit and who fails to do so within the period prescribed, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
Any person who is aggrieved by the refusal of a licensing officer or the Director to grant a permit under section 39 or section 40, or by any terms and conditions imposed by them in accordance with the provisions of section 41(1), may appeal against that refusal or those terms and conditions to the Minister, whose decision thereon shall be final.
PART IX
General Provisions with regard to Hunting (ss 43-61)
(1) No person shall act as a professional guide unless he is in possession of such valid professional guide's licence as may be prescribed, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(2) Application for a professional guide's licence shall be made to the Director in such form as may be prescribed, and the Director may, require the applicant to take and pass such examination as he thinks fit.
(3) The Director may, at his discretion, issue a professional guide's licence, subject to such terms and conditions as he may approve, and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, and such licence shall be valid until the 31st day of December in the year of its issue:
Provided that the Director may revoke the licence of any professional guide who fails to comply with any term or condition of the licence or who is guilty of any offence under this Act or under section 131 of the Penal Code, or who permits a client to contravene any of the provisions of this Act or of any regulations made under the Act.
(4) A professional guide's licence shall not be transferable, and no person other than the person to whom it is issued shall operate under the authority of a professional guide's licence, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(5) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Director to issue a licence under this section, or by any of the terms and conditions subject to which it is issued may appeal against such refusal or those terms and conditions to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.
(1) No person shall act as a professional hunter unless he is in possession of such professional hunter's licence as may be prescribed, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(2) Application for such licence as is referred to in subsection (1) shall be made to the Director in such form as may be prescribed, and the Director may require the applicant to take and pass such examination as he thinks fit.
(3) The Director may, at his discretion, issue such licence, subject to such terms and conditions as he may approve, and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, and such licence shall be valid until the 31st day of December in the year of its issue:
Provided that the Director may revoke the licence of any professional hunter who fails to comply with any term or condition of the licence or is guilty of any offence under this Act or under section 131 of the Penal Code, or who permits a client to contravene any of the provisions of this Act or any regulations made under the Act.
(4) A professional hunter's licence shall not be transferable, and no person other than the person to whom it is issued shall operate under the authority of such licence, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(5) A professional hunter's licence shall, subject to the provisions of this section, entitle the holder thereof to act as a professional guide and in addition shall entitle the holder to assist any other person who is the holder of any licence or permit issued under this Act, to do any act or thing which the holder of such licence or permit is authorised to do under his licence or permit.
(6) A professional hunter's licence shall not entitle the holder to shoot at any animal except as provided in section 47, or to prevent the escape of an animal already wounded, and any such licence holder who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(7) If a professional hunter, while assisting any other person, kills any animal which he is not otherwise entitled under this Act to kill, and the person whom he is assisting is the holder of a licence or permit entitling such holder to hunt or kill an animal of that species, such animal shall be deemed to have been killed by such holder under that licence or permit, and shall be counted as an animal killed in terms of such licence or permit, and the holder thereof shall record the killing in accordance with the provisions of section 38:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as relieving the professional hunter of liability for any contravention of the provisions of subsection (6).
(8)(a) A professional hunter shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that his client understands the terms and conditions of any licence or permit issued to him and does not contravene any of those terms and conditions or any of the provisions of this Act, and where his client commits an offence under this Act or any regulations made under this Act he shall report the commission of such offence to a wildlife officer.
(b) Without derogating from the liability of his client in respect of any contravention of this Act or any regulations under this Act, any professional hunter who fails to comply with any provision of paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P5 000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(c) Where a client is convicted of an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder it shall be presumed that the professional hunter with whom he was hunting failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the client understood the terms and conditions of his licence or permit or to prevent the client from contravening the Act or the regulations, unless the contrary is proved.
(9) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Director to issue a licence under this section, or by any terms and conditions subject to which such licence is issued, may appeal against that refusal or those terms and conditions to the Minister, whose decision thereon shall be final.
45. Prohibition of certain activities in specified areas
(1) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, prohibit, for periods not exceeding 12 months at a time, the hunting or disturbance of any animals, or any species or sex of animals or any specimen of animal, in any defined area or areas, or the removal of any animal or part of any animal from any defined area or areas, for purposes of control of the spread of disease, protection of life or property, or for administrative purposes:
Provided that where the area to which the order relates, or any part thereof, is private land, the Minister shall, in addition to the publication of the order in the Gazette, cause it to be published for seven consecutive days on the notice board of the district office for the area in which that land is situated.
(2) No person shall, in any such defined area, hunt, capture or wilfully disturb any animal or any species or sex of animal or any specimen of animal, the hunting or disturbance of which is prohibited in accordance with an order issued under subsection (1), and no person shall remove or cause to be removed any animal or any part of an animal from any such area, the removal from which is prohibited by the order, and any person who contravenes the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act shall be liable to a fine of P2 000 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
46. Killing of animals causing damage
(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the owner or occupier of land, or any agent of such owner or occupier may, subject to the provisions of this Act, kill any animal which caused, is causing or threatens to cause damage to any livestock, crops, water installation or fence on such land:
Provided that nothing in this section shall authorise the killing of an animal which is in a national park or a game reserve, or the use of any poisoned weapon, pitfall or snare for the killing of any animal.
(2) Any person who has killed an animal in terms of subsection (1) shall, as soon as possible, and in any case not later than 7 days after the event, report the circumstances of such killing, and deliver the trophies of such animal, to the nearest wildlife officer or police station.
(3) The trophies and meat of any animal killed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be Government trophies, but where the report required under subsection (2) has been made, and it is established that the killing was in accordance with those provisions, the Director or the licensing officer may issue a permit for the sale of the meat by the person concerned:
Provided that no such permit shall be issued for the sale or other disposal of the meat of any elephant, rhinoceros or cheetah, or the meat of any animal that was killed because it was merely threatening to cause damage.
[16 of 1993, s. 2(a).]
(4) Compensation may be paid, as may be provided in regulations made under the Act, to any person who satisfactorily establishes that he has suffered damage from the action of an animal.
[16 of 1993, s. 2(a).]
(5) The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, determine rates of compensation to be paid in respect of claims made under the provisions of this section, where he considers such claims and such rates to be justified.
(6) Any person who?
(a) kills any animal in defence of property otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1);
(b) fails to report the killing of any animal in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2); or
(c) uses, retains or disposes of any trophy or meat of the animal so killed otherwise than under or in accordance with this section,
[16 of 1993, s. 2(c).]
shall be guilty of an offence and without derogation from his liability under any other provision of this Act shall be liable to a fine of P1000 and to imprisonment for 1 year.
47. Killing of animals in self defence
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, it shall not be unlawful for any person to kill or wound any animal in defence of himself or any other person if immediately and absolutely necessary.
(2) The burden of proving that an animal has been killed or wounded in accordance with the provisions of this section shall lie upon the person who did the killing or wounding.
(3) Where any game animal is killed in circumstances such as are referred to in subsection (1) by any person who is not the holder of a licence or permit entitling or authorising him to kill such animal, such animal shall be a Government trophy and such person shall as soon as possible, and in any event not later than 7 days after the killing, report such killing to the nearest convenient wildlife officer or police station, and shall, if so directed, deliver the animal or such parts thereof as may be specified, to such wildlife officer or police station, as the case may be, and any person who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P500 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
48. Killing of animals by accident or in error
(1) Where any fish or game animal is killed by accident or in error by any person whilst he is hunting, and such person is not the holder of a licence or permit entitling or authorising him to kill such animal, such animal shall be a Government trophy and such person shall as soon as possible and in any event not later than 7 days after the event report the killing to the nearest convenient wildlife officer or police station, and shall, if so directed, deliver the animal or such parts thereof as may be specified, to such wildlife officer or police station, as the case may be.
[15 of 2023, s. 11.]
(2) Where any animal is killed by accident or in error by any person while he is hunting and such person is the holder of a licence or permit entitling or authorising him to kill such animal it shall be counted as an animal killed in terms of such licence or permit, and the person who killed it shall record the killing thereof in his register in accordance with the provisions of section 38.
(3) Where any game animal is killed by accident or in error by any person whilst he is driving a vehicle upon any road, he shall, if he retrieves the animal or any part thereof, as soon as possible, report the killing to the nearest convenient wildlife officer or police station, and shall, if so directed, surrender to such wildlife officer or police station, as the case may be, the animal or such of the parts retrieved by him as may be specified.
(4) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) or (3) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of P1 000 and to imprisonment for 1 year:
Provided that?
(a) where the animal killed is a rhinoceros the offender shall be liable to a fine of P100 000, and to imprisonment for 15 years; and
(b) where the animal killed is an elephant the offender shall be liable to a fine of P50 000, and to imprisonment for 10 years.
This section of the article is only available for our subscribers. Please click here to subscribe to a subscription plan to view this part of the article.