Assignment: Botswana - living with elephants
The battle to keep the peace between people and elephants in northern Botswana.\nThe earth\u2019s largest land mammal, the elephant, is an endangered species. Poaching, habitat loss and disease have decimated elephant populations. But not in Botswana, which has the world\u2019s biggest population of elephants. In the north of the country, in the area around the remarkable Okavango Delta (the world\u2019s largest inland delta), elephant numbers are growing and they outnumber people. This can pose serious problems for the human population, particularly local subsistence farmers. A crop raid by elephants can destroy a family\u2019s annual food supply overnight. Elephants also pose a risk to life in their daily commute between their feeding grounds and their water sources.\nJohn Murphy travels to the top of the Okavango Delta, to see what efforts are being made to keep both people and elephants safe, and to persuade locals that these giant animals are an asset not a liability. He also explores threats from further afield to this green jewel in the desert, the Okavango Delta, which animals and people alike depend on.