Biodiversity Centre

For 10 years now, Kasane's CARACAL Biodiversity and Environmental Education Centre has been focusing on the health of Chobe District ecosystems and the human/wildlife interface, as well as sustainable rural livelihoods.Its various projects addresses the relationships between habitats, wild and domestic animals and people. In the words of the CARACAL President, Dr. Kathy Alexander of the Virginia Tech, USA : " We are trying to secure the health of ecosystems and to look at how people sustain themselves in these environments with a view to developing opportunities for rural dwellers". One of its key area of research is how disease is passed between humans and wild animals and the centre is currently working closely with the Ministry of Health to examine how animals contribute towards human contraction of TB and vise versa. Another project carried out in collaboration with the Botswana Predator Conservation Programme examines how human behaviour affects wildlife health, focusing on predator health.