Subsistence Hunting and Resource Management among the Ju/'Hoansi of Northwestern Botswana

Abstract

An assessment of subsistence hunting and natural resource management among Ju/'hoansi Bushmen (San) over a period of 30 years from the 1960s to 1995 was carried out as part of anthropological investigations of remote foraging and food-producing populations in the northwestern Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and Namibia. The Ju/'hoansi pursue a diversified set of resource management and utilization strategies, exploiting over 50 species of mammals, birds, and other fauna using a variety of tools and techniques. Wildlife offtake rates in the 1960s were well below replacement rates. Although changes have occurred over time in technology and in the use of dogs, donkeys, and horses in hunting, the numbers of animals taken by subsistence hunters were still below sustainable yields in 1995, and wildlife products continue to play a significant role in the socioeconomic and ideological systems of Ju/'hoansi. These findings underscore the importance of ensuring a continuation of the right to hunt legally and to engage in local community-based natural resource management projects.