The National Anti-poaching Committee (NAC) led by Brigadier Simon Motswana Barwabatsile, and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) have dismissed claims of rampant poaching in Northern Botswana made by director and founder of Elephants Without Borders, Dr Michael Chase. Government of Botswana through the Office of the President (OP), the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), DWNP and the NAC organised a two-day tour of the area for the media to appreciate first-hand information to test the veracity of Chase’s claims. Briefing a group of local and international journalists on Wednesday morning NAC Coordinator, Barwabatsile, said after the story broke they invited Chase to lead them on a visit to the referenced locations of alleged poaching. Other independent stakeholders, among them EWB representatives and Rhino Conservation Botswana were involved, he said. “So far only 19 carcasses were identified from the coordinates provided by Dr Chase. Of these only six (6) were found to show evidence of poaching while the remainder did not. In fact, one of the carcasses was found with tusks intact. In the rest of the coordinates supplied by Chase that make up the 87 alleged in the media, there was either no indication of a…