ZIMBABWE Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) has said it is concerned by the growing elephant population in Hwange National Parks.This follows the death of over 100 elephants due to the El Nino induced drought. Watering holes in the park have dried up.Zimparks spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo said there is no need to panic considering that the elephants are already overcrowded and now a danger to the environment.
“We are talking of only 100 elephants in a park with over 45 000 elephants.
“It’s expected because the weather is hot. We have high temperatures and we have no water since we haven’t been receiving rain.
“They are bound to be stressed and die.
“What we are concerned about is that they are overpopulated and they are destroying the habitat…in fact, they are becoming a danger to the environment,” he said in an interview.
Hwange National Park is part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), which covers Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Angola, making it the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world.
To alleviate the problem Zimparks has installed 104 solar-powered boreholes in the game park.However, the boreholes, according to the authorities, are not enough and are no match for the extreme temperatures.
As a result, the wildlife is forced to walk long distances in search of water.
In 2019, about 200 elephants died from the dry spell.
