The Sunday News
Brian Chitemba
WILDLIFE in the Hwange National Park is under threat from a severe drought which has recently led to the death of about 100 elephants due to water and vegetation crises.
According to an ecological report done by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), elephant calves are the hardest hit by the adverse effects of a drought and soaring temperatures that hit the national park between August and October 2019.
High temperatures of around 45 Degrees Celsius were recorded in Hwange in recent weeks. Rainfall received during the 2018/2019 season was below normal while the excessive heat has negatively affected the water and vegetation in game parks.
Elephant calves aged between three and eight years are prone to the fatal effects of droughts as they are unable to reach tree branches, dig up roots and uproot trees. They are also highly sensitive to heat.
The ZimParks report, compiled by a team led by Hwange senior area manager Mr Brighton Joroma, revealed that 47 young jumbos died in the Main Camp area of the Hwange National Park, while 20 deaths were recorded in Sinamatela and 16 in Robins. The effects of the drought also claimed 12 elephants in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North province.
The causes of the deaths were established after a post mortem on the elephants, which tested negative to diseases such as anthrax. The report reads in part:
“During the period August to October 2019, elephant mortalities have been recorded in Hwange National Park. Detections have largely been through ranger patrols, pump maintenance staff and stakeholders, including Friends of Hwange and tourists. This is the hot-dry period where most parts of the park are dry and animals have to rely on pumped water for their survival.
“A large number of mortalities during this period were attributed to drought.”
The deaths represent a 0,216 percent of the elephants whose population grows at about five percent per annum. The elephant population in Hwange National Park has increased to between 45 000 and 53 000, against a carrying capacity of 15 000.
ZimParks experts wrote that elephants are voracious feeders, with each jumbo eating about 272 kilogrammes of grass and drinking 200 litres of water per day.
Each elephant can deposit 150kg of dung per day. Due to the animals’ high demand for water, they monopolise water holes during the dry seasons.
The parks authority therefore pumps water using 86 solar pumps, 14 diesel pumps, two electric engines and two windmills during the dry seasons.
“Currently, Botswana does not provide water for wildlife due to policy changes on hunting along the western boundary of Hwange National Park. Subsequently, extensive west to east migrations have been observed through elephant collaring data,” reads the Zimparks report.
ZimParks spokesman Mr Tinashe Farawo said in an effort to reduce the ballooning elephant population, the authority has resorted to selling some elephants to countries such as China and Dubai.
Recently, Zimbabwe shipped 30 elephants to China as part of a trade deal that had been concluded in 2016. However, the elephant calves were undervalued. Each elephant was sold for a paltry US$30 000, instead of between US$180 000 and US$200 000.
The sale therefore only fetched US$900 000, way below the US$5,4 million that the country could have earned.
ZimParks’ new management, led by Mr Fullton Mangwanya, tried to resist the sale.
Between 2017 and 2019, Zimbabwe has sold 71 jumbos to Dubai and China, thereby realising US$3,2 million from the deals, which were in line with the Parks and Wildlife Act Chapter 20:14 as well as provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) treaty.
The funds realised were channelled towards the purchasing of anti-poaching vehicles, rangers’ ammunition, water pumping systems, dog kennels, fuel, camping equipment and community awareness campaigns.
