Crocodile Hunting in the Okavango Swamps: White Hunters and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge in Late Colonial Botswana

In the late colonial period, the belly skins of Nile crocodiles from east, central and southern Africa were exploited for their commercial value in the manufacture of handbags, shoes and other luxury items. This article presents a historical analysis of crocodile hunting in the Okavango swamps in north-west Botswana. It considers evolving attempts at government regulation and control within the wider global context of crocodile hunting and trade in crocodile skins. It also examines the role played by white hunters in collaboration with the ‘River San/Bushmen’. The study draws on multidisciplinary sources including the Botswana National Archives and Records Services (BNARS), grey literature and oral accounts captured through community-based ethnographic research, focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. The article argues that individual adventurers and hunters, who in the 1940s and 1950s sought to profit financially from the sale of crocodile skins and wildlife photography, benefited from the use of ethnic San’s extensive knowledge of the dense Delta swamps and their skill at finding crocodile nests. Important San intermediaries such as Kwere Sereri, the renowned guide and tracker, were remembered by white hunters and local communities for their hunting prowess and ‘genius’ in the field.