190 elephants die of water shortage in Zimbabwe
By Indo Asian News Service | IANS India Private Limited – 13 hours ago
Harare, Dec 5 (IANS) Zimbabwe has lost at least 190 elephants owing to water
shortage at Hwange National Park, the largest in the country, during the dry
season this year, said authorities.
Last year, the national park lost 80 elephants and 25 buffaloes in the same
period as a result of high temperatures and water shortages, according to
the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
Felix Chimeramombe, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority regional manager
in charge of the Western region, said the figure reflects an increase
compared to the same period last year, reported Xinhua.
He said his organisation has been engaging stakeholders to assist in
resolving the water shortages and begun scooping water points in an effort
to reduce siltation as well as improve retention capacity in the future.
“We could be having more than those numbers but Hwange is a vast area and it
is difficult to cover the whole area in terms of accounting for the
mortalities that we have encountered this year,” Chimeramombe was quoted by
state radio as saying.
He said a total of 25 buffaloes and five zebras also got stuck in the mud
and died at Matetsi Camp when they were attempting to access water.
A single elephant can drink up to 100 litres of water at one sitting and can
drink up to 250 litres per day during the dry season.
Hwange National Park has in the past also seen an influx of elephants from
Botswana, a development which has also put pressure on the limited resources
which have to cater for an estimated 50,000 elephants and other species of
wildlife.