Climate change hits Zimbabwe wildlife
December 5, 2011
By Wisdom Mdzungairi
Changing climatic conditions in Zimbabwe’s vast flagship wildlife
sanctuary – Hwange National Park – have caused the death of large numbers of
several endangered species including elephants, lions and black rhinos.
Numbers of these animals have fallen drastically due to the lack of drinking
water, said Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director-general,
Vitalis Chadenga.
Despite pumping in water 24 hours per day to avert the crisis, scorching
temperatures have seen perennial water holes and pans in the vast game park
drying up and the water table ‘getting very low’ resulting in boreholes
failing to cope with demand.
Small game species have already succumbed to thirst en bloc around the water
holes dotted around the dry park as they could not compete with big game and
dangerous predators for the finite resources in the park.
In an interview at the COP 17 yesterday, Chadenga said 88 elephants have
died of thirst in the last three months, and many others were migrating to
nearby countries in search of “greener pastures”.
Poaching has exacerbated the dire circumstances of certain species. Some 23
black and white rhinos have been killed in national parks and conservancies
this year, while 37 poachers and illegal dealers in horns have been
arrested. The rhino remains a major target for poachers who sell their
products on lucrative markets in Asia and the Middle East.
With over 50 000 elephants, a sizeable number of endangered black rhino,
zebra, lion and all the ‘big five’, Hwange is home to almost half of the
country’s jumbo population, although its carrying capacity is around 20 000
animals. The country’s current population of elephants is estimated at just
over 120 000 animals.
Chadenga said. “We hope we will see a global solution and that the rich
countries will own up and pay for the damages. We hope this climate
conference will come up with a treaty so that we are able to deal with our
climate challenges back home. As a department, we no longer have the
capacity to deal with the water challenges in our parks.”
Hwange including some of Zimbabwe’s 11 major national parks Mana Pools,
Matopo and Gonarezhou are in low rainfall areas and the parks department has
over the years been actively providing water to wildlife daily.
However, the department is running short of financial resources to maintain
the momentum.
Chadenga said it is not enough for developed nations to tell poor countries
not to cut trees when “people have to look after themselves. We need to
address bread and butter issues. For us, we would rather have half the
number of elephants we currently hold. We have no mitigation measures that
we can carry since we are short of resources, except that if there are
countries willing to buy jumbos from us we can sell according to the
dictates of UN Cites statutes.”
But, he added, if COP 17 could strike a deal that would ensure that the 37
developed nations will compensate poor countries for messing up the climate,
“that money will be used to improve our management of park estates by
ensuring sustainability.”