On Monday and Tuesday, I accompanied Erik, one of Botswana's four wildlife veterinarians, to Jwaneng for a consultation.
Though the town of Jwaneng itself is unremarkable, it is home to the world's largest diamond reservoir. The mine is renowned for the quantity and the quality of the precious stones found there. In fact, one of the diamonds from Jwaneng recently sold to a US buyer for $27 million US.
Unfortunately, the mine is also home to a large quantity of baboons. The reason for the consultation was the number of complaints about the animals being made by mine workers. The incidents reported include baboons breaking and entering, raiding kitchens and offices, stealing lunches, and even attacking some individuals.
We departed Gaborone early Monday morning and arrived at Jwaneng a few hours later. Immediately we had to go through "induction," a nearly 3-hour-long orientation program to familiarize visitors and workers with the mine's security, health and safety procedures. The mine is divided into so-called green, blue, pink, and red areas, with the red being the heart of the mine. Security measures increase the closer you get to the red area. Even leaving merely the blue area requires randomly conducted strip searches. During the sessions we also learned about the reward (up to 30,000 pula) given to individuals that identify diamonds and report it to the proper officials. Unfortunately, I did not notice a single glimmer amongst the gravel, and left empty-handed.
We spent the rest of the day observing the baboons both in the mine and in the surrounding game park. The goal was to establish baseline, to figure out the number, size, and location of the baboon troops. After a private night game drive, we settled into our accommodation: an observation tower that we converted to our camp site for the night. Though I wasn't necessarily expecting to camp out in the Kalahari desert in near freezing weather, I fell asleep with an unbelievable view of the stars and slept extremely well.
We woke up early the next morning to check on the baboons and figure out where they moved to during the daytime. The afternoon was spent interviewing workers about their personal experiences with baboons. Though many people expressed concerns or frustrations over the problems caused by the baboons, many admitted that they enjoy seeing and having the animals around.
I enjoyed getting a taste of wildlife management and camping in the bush. I can also say that I have been inside the world's largest diamond mine. More importantly, I learned the many ways in which the diamond mines benefit the people and the country of Botswana as a whole (for ex. by subsidizing the education of Botswana's citizens).
Now I'm back in the clinic for the rest of the week.
Though the town of Jwaneng itself is unremarkable, it is home to the world's largest diamond reservoir. The mine is renowned for the quantity and the quality of the precious stones found there. In fact, one of the diamonds from Jwaneng recently sold to a US buyer for $27 million US.
Unfortunately, the mine is also home to a large quantity of baboons. The reason for the consultation was the number of complaints about the animals being made by mine workers. The incidents reported include baboons breaking and entering, raiding kitchens and offices, stealing lunches, and even attacking some individuals.
We departed Gaborone early Monday morning and arrived at Jwaneng a few hours later. Immediately we had to go through "induction," a nearly 3-hour-long orientation program to familiarize visitors and workers with the mine's security, health and safety procedures. The mine is divided into so-called green, blue, pink, and red areas, with the red being the heart of the mine. Security measures increase the closer you get to the red area. Even leaving merely the blue area requires randomly conducted strip searches. During the sessions we also learned about the reward (up to 30,000 pula) given to individuals that identify diamonds and report it to the proper officials. Unfortunately, I did not notice a single glimmer amongst the gravel, and left empty-handed.
We spent the rest of the day observing the baboons both in the mine and in the surrounding game park. The goal was to establish baseline, to figure out the number, size, and location of the baboon troops. After a private night game drive, we settled into our accommodation: an observation tower that we converted to our camp site for the night. Though I wasn't necessarily expecting to camp out in the Kalahari desert in near freezing weather, I fell asleep with an unbelievable view of the stars and slept extremely well.
We woke up early the next morning to check on the baboons and figure out where they moved to during the daytime. The afternoon was spent interviewing workers about their personal experiences with baboons. Though many people expressed concerns or frustrations over the problems caused by the baboons, many admitted that they enjoy seeing and having the animals around.
I enjoyed getting a taste of wildlife management and camping in the bush. I can also say that I have been inside the world's largest diamond mine. More importantly, I learned the many ways in which the diamond mines benefit the people and the country of Botswana as a whole (for ex. by subsidizing the education of Botswana's citizens).
Now I'm back in the clinic for the rest of the week.
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| Our ride |
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| Entrance to the game park - where we want the baboons to be |
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| Large baboon |
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| The morning migration |
I think you may be the first BUP intern who has actually been inside a mine camp!
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