BOTSWANAS WILDLIFE RESOURCE - A VETERINARY PERSPECTIVE

The southern African Republic of Botswana, nestled among Namibia, Zamb ia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, provides habitats to some of the most extensive, free-ranging wildlife populations left in Africa. This Texa s-sized nation faces immense developmental challenges as its populatio n of 1.3 million continues to multiply rapidly. With cattle playing vi tal cultural and economic roles in daily life, landuse conflicts betwe en livestock and wildlife are intensifying. Ar the same time, safari h unting and photographic tourism are major industries, set up to potent ially supplant beef sales in foreign exchange earnings if the wildlife resource is managed sustainably into the next century. Dr. Steven A. Osofsky traveled from Texas to Botswana in November 1991 after hearing through the conservation grapevine that a veterinary post might be av ailable in Botswana's national wildlife department. With seed funding for travel and basic field equipment from his former employers at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Tex, he set off to see whethe r he could ''make a difference'' in the realm of African wildlife cons ervation. Some of the experiences he relates here are excerpted from t he journal he kept as he lived and worked in the deserts, forests, swa mps, and villages of Botswana.