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Leonard Ncube Herald Reporter
Low water supplies in Hwange National Park plus increasing overcrowding of elephants has seen wild animals, mostly elephants and buffaloes, reportedly migrating to Botswana in search of food and water.
Some communities in the neighbouring country are taking advantage and illegally killing some of the animals for meat.
A video making rounds on social media showing people with a dozen dogs axing a buffalo has caused a lot of concern among wildlife activists and conservationists.
The short video shows that the incident happened in Botswana as the people could be heard speaking in SeTswana.
There are reports that a herd of about 500 buffaloes strayed into Botswana where some were killed by rural farmers there.
Authorities from ZimParks confirmed that not only buffaloes, but several species were migrating because of water problems.
“Yes, we can confirm that there are many of our animals that are migrating from Hwange National Park into Botswana. It’s not only buffaloes but elephants and others.
“They are moving into Botswana in search of water and food like we recently said that there is a shortage of water within the Hwange National Park because we did not receive much rainfall last season,” said Mr Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks).
He said there were concerns that the area, which the animals are straying into is a human settlement with lots of cattle, hence there could be an outbreak of cattle diseases due to contact with buffaloes while human-wildlife conflict could also rise.
An aerial elephant survey conducted by the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) whose results were released three weeks ago showed that the elephant population had increased by over 10 000 from 216 970 in 2016 to 227 900.
KAZA partner countries are Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe and the report showed that there is free movement of animals across boundaries.
Zimbabwe’s game areas including Hwange National Park that fall under Kaza have 65 028 elephants, making 29 percent of Kaza elephant population, the second after Botswana, which has 131 090 elephants making 58 percent of the total Kaza elephant population.
Zimbabwe had 57 398 elephants in the Kaza-administered areas in 2016. There are thousands of buffaloes in Hwange National Park, some of them in herds of more than 400.
The overpopulation of elephants in the biggest game park, which is home to more than 100 mammals and 400 bird species, has been blamed for human-wildlife conflict, migration of animals and death of some wildlife as the jumbos are known for destroying the habitat and water sources.
Hundreds of elephants and other species have died in the past while large herds have migrated to other areas due to shortage of water and habitat causing animal-human conflict.
The situation is dire during the hottest months of the year.
The poor rains received last season left the national park with less water and forage for animals, putting pressure on the artificial sources put by Zimpakrs in partnership with other organisations such as International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), which a few years ago rehabilitated the Nyamandlovu Pan near Hwange Main Camp.
The park has no natural rivers and relies on artificial solar-powered pumping.
Ifaw, which entered into a five-year partnership with ZimParks in 2019 to promote sustainable wildlife conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation, made further commitment pledging more finances for various projects in the park to help in wildlife conservation and country’s US$5 billion tourism industry by 2025 target.
Measuring over 14 000 square kilometres, Hwange National Park is home to the world’s second biggest population of elephants after Botswana.
It is a key component of Kaza, forming an integral part of the “room-to-roam initiative” being implemented by Ifaw to secure landscapes and maintain connectivity for elephants and other wildlife.
Online Reporter