Zimbabwe wildlife authorities say at least 112 elephants died of hunger and thirst within three months between September and November this year at the country's largest natural reserve in Hwange in Matabeleland North.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) spokesperson Tinashe Farawo confirmed the deaths and said the situation at the Hwange game reserve was desperate.
Farawo said the deaths were recorded between September and November when water sources were drying up at the peak of the heatwave due to the El-Nino induced drought.
“This year has been challenging in terms of water supply because of drought,” Farawo said.
“Most of our parks are in Region 5 where we experience little or no rainfall at all.
“In Hwange, specifically, there are no natural rivers. We have plus 100 boreholes which are solar powered. We are also trying to go green.”
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The game reserve depends on groundwater pumped from boreholes.
Zimbabwe — with more than 84,000 elephants — has the second biggest herd in the world after Botswana but can sustainably manage only about 56,000 of them.
“So it has been challenging, but we have been trying,” Farawo said.
“If you look at most of the animals which have been affected by this drought up until the rains, it’s the animals which are old, young and those that are sick.”
Farawo said another big threat to the elephants and other wildlife is the loss of habitat, which resulted in human-wildlife conflict.
Dozens of villagers and communal farmers continue to lose their lives, livestock and crops to wild animals that encroach into communities searching for food.
In 2021, 71 deaths and 50 injuries were recorded, compared to 60 deaths and 40 injuries in 2020.
In 2022, 68 people lost their lives.
The country recorded 15 deaths and 43 injuries during the first quarter of 2023. Last year during the same period, there were 22 deaths and 18 injuries.
ZimParks has been struggling to compensate victims of wildlife attacks.
In June, Cabinet approved the setting up of a fund to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict.
The government initially approved the Human-Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund to compensate victims of human and wildlife conflict last year.
“Because the areas are overpopulated, most animals, especially elephants, have the tendency toknock down trees as they move into communities,” Farawo said.
“We also have been doing a lot in terms of going into communities, raising awareness to deal with issues of human-wildlife conflict.
“They clash with communities as they would be competing for water and food.”
He added: “Sometimes we capture the animals, put them back into the park and in some cases, we use legal means where we eliminate the animals.”
The increase in wildlife population has been blamed on, among others, a ban on culling following the promulgation of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species which imposed a global ban on ivory trade.
This has caused an increase in human-wildlife conflict as the animals invade human settlements in search of food and water, causing problems.