Source: Drought claims 115 elephants in Hwange | Herald (Top Stories)

Andile Tshuma Bulawayo Bureau

AT least 115 elephants have died at the vast Hwange National Park since September this year due to the shortage of food and water.

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo said water reservoirs were drying up.

Since the beginning of this month, 10 elephant deaths have been recorded at the same park, but the number could be higher.

He said Hwange National Park, with the biggest population of elephants in the country is overpopulated.

“We are currently sinking boreholes as deep as 400 metres to try to get to the water table and this is costly and we are battling to cope,” said Mr Farawo.

He said food and water shortages at national parks were escalating human-wildlife conflict as animals were escaping from parks to communal lands in search of scarce resources.

He said there is a need to reduce elephants to ensure that the country remains with a sustainable number.

Mr Farawo said ZimParks desperately needs investment in water sources to prevent deaths of wildlife and ultimately protect humans from animals.

“We have people who claim to love the elephants so much, yet do less to ensure that those elephants get the best quality of life. They are now overpopulated and sharing scarce resources in their habitat, which is also not good.

“They are now migrating to communal areas in search of food and water which has spiked human-wildlife contact in areas near national parks, leading to a rise in numbers of people killed by the jumbos,” he said.