The elephant problem developed, our sources indicate, when a Johan Calitz client, in the process of stalking a small elephant, came upon a much larger elephant in the bush that appeared to have died of natural causes. The former is said to have weighed about 35 pounds and the latter about 65. The client subsequently shot the smaller elephant and was allowed by the PH (not Johan Calitz himself) to swap the small ivory for the large ivory. Since deceased animals are the property of the state, the incident is being investigated as a "theft of government property."
The second problem involves two buffalo permits that Johan Calitz Safaris purchased from Mark Kyriacou of Bird Safaris. The legal, above-board sale of the permits by Kyriacou gave Johan Calitz Safaris the right to hunt the buffalo in Kyriacou's concession. The only problem is, a Johan Calitz PH (again, not Johan Calitz himself, but an employee of his) shot one of the buffalo outside of Kyriacou's concession. He is said to have knowingly and deliberately done so.
The upshot is, at this writing, the government has refused to issue Johan Calitz Safaris a license to conduct hunts next year. In fairness to Calitz, it should be pointed out that his legal firm was appealing that decision as this issue went to press. Calitz himself, reached in Tanzania, said he was confident his company would ultimately be cleared of charges. We will publish an update when more facts are available. In the meantime, would-be clients may want to note the ambiguity about next year.
On other fronts in Botswana, we have also learned that the government has refused to issue........(continued)
