Global turmoil has sent disquieting ripples even into the remote wilds of Hwange. This has been most sharply felt in the steep fuel price hike, with the prospect of fuel shortages whispering on the wind. The FOH teams have pressed on stoically, and the bush itself offered ample reward: a season of plentiful rain has resulted in lush, thick vegetation, nevertheless, keen eyes and persistence have resulted in superb sightings of leopards (including young JB), lion prides swelling with new cubs, painted dogs, cheetah, hyaena pups, and more. Elephants can be found peacefully foraging all along the Kennedy Vlei with Kennedy 2 Pan already showing signs of some pressure.
Rainfall closed out the 2025/26 season at 861mm — well above average — leaving the park’s countless natural pans, particularly those around Tchabema, brimming with water and flourishing aquatic plants. This reserve should carry the wildlife deep into the dry months ahead. As the season turned, the landscape transformed into a rich tapestry of dark greens, russets and golds, the mopane standing thick and verdant far later into the year than usual, and the teak bearing florets of gorgeous mauve blooms. The variety of hues rippling through the burnished grass is mesmerizing.
Habitat Management
Fireguards and Roads
Behind the scenes, considerable work has unfolded. This year’s exceptional rains brought prolific growth of vegetation, making fireguard clearing more critical than ever as a first line of defense against wildfire. Our Habitat Management team responded with an ambitious push to tackle road clearance and fireguard upkeep against the unusually heavy grass cover. Harrowing a road through the Jupanda Vlei opened up a route to Mtswiri — an area last accessed in 2011 during a previous camera trap survey. Progress was demanding, with dense, established Dichrostachys cinerea reducing clearing rates to as little as 4 km per day at times, underscoring just how labour-intensive this essential work is. The effort was not without reward as the natural pan systems to Mtswiri are breath-taking and represent a compelling case for future water provision should the approach to the establishment of more artificial water points in HNP be revisited.
Thanks to major support from the Koval Foundation, as well as Panthera, WildCat, Verney’s (Machaba), and Nehimba (Imvelo), 232km were completed in May and June alone, bringing the season’s total to an impressive 474km of fireguards — a critical achievement in protecting the park against fire risk, made all the more remarkable given the ongoing fuel constraints. Hats off to our teams!
The scale of this work has taken a heavy toll on equipment: the vehicles and tractors have been serviced after the intensive firebreak season, but the Ford tractor has required all of its tyres replaced and still has an unresolved crank head pressure build-up issue to be addressed subject to funding availability. The harrows have been stripped down, with hydraulic rams and pipes dispatched to Harare for refurbishment. The extensive distances covered this season have worn through several components on the Hastt harrow – funds are needed to assist with procurement of new parts for a re-build. Chainsaws, hedge-cutters and fire-blowers have all required regular servicing, maintenance and replacement of blades and chains.
Controlled Burning
With the cessation of the rains, ZimParks conducted a trial burn to complete the fireguard maintenance, but conditions were not yet favourable as the grass remained too green. Greater success was achieved during June, with controlled burns carried out across the Main Camp area and along the railway corridor. Operations continued progressing north towards the Mambanje area, with completion anticipated by month end.
Game Water
A violent storm tore through Manga 3 early in March, wrecking the recently upgraded solar array. FOH moved quickly onto repairs thanks to funds providedby WEZ Matabeleland and the EverEden Foundation. At Manga 1, new batteries have been installed after last year’s burnout, and the Sunsynk inverter replaced to make the system fully operational.
Seized pumps and motors were replaced at Boss Long One and Tshebe Tshebe, troughs cleaned out, and silt-blocked pipes cleared at Kennedy 2 and Makwa. Ngweshla needed a system reset, while hyaena damage at Ngugama caused a short that burned out the inverter and motor, both since replaced along with the cable that has since been buried under a railway sleeper as a deterrent measure.
A damaged pipe
was swapped out at Kennedy 1, and at Dopi, elephants ripped up the pipeline entirely forcing a new trench to be dug and a full pipe re-lay. A setback came when assistance was requested with trench work for a Number 9 borehole to upgrade the Main Camp water system. This was not the hole funded by FOH a few years ago, but rather a second hole that was drilled under the auspices of ZimParks. The tow grader was used to open up and then close a new trench. However, subsequent to this, the borehole collapsed probably because the hole was not cased to the bottom. The FOH team laboured in efforts to recover the pump and motor to no avail as it was buried under too much soil. Subsequently, the old array was decommissioned and materials returned to base.
May brought steady repairs: a worn pump replaced at Garakamwe and a blown inverter swapped at the Makona Station. A corroded valve was replaced at Guvalala to restore even flow to the platform, and inverter resets with fresh timer batteries were undertaken at Dom and Makwa. During June, Mbiza’s solar system failed on three fronts — a wasp-blocked breaker, termite-damaged cable, and rodent-chewed wiring — all easily repaired, while Nyamandlovhu needed a quick inverter reset. Joint borehole and pan inspections with ZimParks during May found all pans holding excellent water as the season cooled. Yet there’s no room for complacency, with forecasts warning of a possible super El Niño and the catastrophic drought it could bring
Resource Protection
A “highlight moment” came for the Resource Protection team in March with a visit from Paul Coppo – an Australian anti-poaching specialist with 17 years’ experience across Africa. His “get the guys home” ethos covered self-defense, close-quarter combat, arrest procedures, and evidence gathering. After many 4-hour daily training sessions, all the rangers passed their final assessment that left morale and camaraderie running high. Grateful thanks to Paul who provided his time and expertise pro bono.
Following the signing of a lease at Hwange Safari Lodge (HSL), rehabilitation of the ranger barracks has moved forward steadily, despite some early setbacks such as plumbing blocked with debris from many years of disuse. The site is anchored by a main operational hub known colloquially as “The Green House” (the image left shows the original state of it). It may have to be re-named “The Grey House” (see below the re-furbished building). Three accommodation units of five have so far been restored from a very sad state of disrepair. Building materials were collected by FOH from Victoria Falls, Hwange town and Dete. Furnishing and equipping the barracks required considerable logistical coordination with Biddulphs International coming to the fore in delivering furniture, beds, mattresses, storage trunks, patrol kit, uniforms, and a range of additional essential items from Harare.
The installation of an18-panel solar system was completed in June, and the entire area has been enclosed with a perimeter fence to secure the boundary.
Between training and building work, the ranger team kept up local patrols across Farm 41, the Zimbabwe Republic Police camp in Dete, Hwange Safari Lodge, Iganyana, and the Main Airport area, with no suspicious activity found. After pack of wild dogs was found to be denning near the Byo/Vic Falls road, four FOH rangers joined forces with Painted Dog Conservation in the Gwayi ECA boosting boots on the ground in efforts to protect them. The rangers are conducting snare sweeps on surrounding properties, while the monitoring team tracks the dogs and manages traffic on the highway and tributary roads to keep the pack safe.
Good news arrived on the legal front: the 2025 Gwayi bushbuck snaring case closed with two poachers sentenced to 22 months each.
A recruitment drive in May brought a fresh cohort of aspiring young rangers into the fold — four men and nine women — laying the groundwork for an expanded Resource Protection team. By June, the new recruits had settled into the Hwange Safari Lodge barracks, to begin a rigorous period of training, while the seasoned scouts returned to the front lines of fieldwork in the buffer zones surrounding Hwange National Park. Together with our management team and our stalwart sponsors, these rangers are weaving the next chapter of our Resource Protection story.
Tourism
An electric fence now encircles Kennedy 1 campsite, funded by a generous donation from NutriMaster, Harare. Fence Africa of Bulawayo handled installation, supported by FOH and ZimParks personnel, with FOH providing solar panels, a lithium battery, and transport to site. The five-day job got an early test when a passing elephant, drawn by an alluring crop of Acacia erioloba pods, received an unexpected shock from the new fence! The FOH habitat team retrieved surplus materials, leaving the original fence poles in place and re-tensioning the perimeter cable.
Several members of the FOH team joined many other stakeholders at a meeting in Main Camp, convened by ZimParks, to discuss updates to the Hwange National Park management plan — a constructive session that tackled contentious issues through open discussion rather than confrontation. Full minutes and outcomes of the meeting are awaited.
Sincere Thanks
- To Paul Coppo, for generously affording the time to impart knowledge and skills to our rangers.
- To the Beit Trust, for funds to assist with the Barracks Build.
- To the Koval Foundation, for a significant grant for Water Provision, Firebreak Maintenance and Resource Protection.
- To the Hornligrat Foundation and the Brightlight Foundation, for extremely generous core support.
- To the EverEden Foundation and WEZ Matabeleland, for funding the repairs at Manga 3 Pan.
- To all who have donated via PayPal, facilitated by the Hwange Conservation Society UK.
- To NutriMaster, for the donation of an electric fence and its installation at Kennedy 1 campsite.
- To the Hwange Conservation Society UK, for funding a full new set of tractor tyres and a set of new staff uniforms.
- To Verney’s, for support through fuel provision for fireguards and overnight accommodation for our staff.
- To Imvelo, for their contribution of fuel and assistance with fireguards in their area.
- To Panthera, Hwange Lion Research and WildCat, for their fuel contribution and field assistance.
- To Biddulphs International for considerable, ongoing support pro bono in delivering multitudes of necessary provisions to Hwange on behalf of FOH.
Conclusion
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that shifts rainfall patterns around the globe, and in Zimbabwe, El Niño typically suppresses seasonal rainfall, delaying the onset of rains and producing prolonged, punishing dry spells. The drought conditions that close in on Hwange National Park place enormous, mounting, strain on wildlife that depend entirely on artificially pumped water systems to survive. Every pump must be kept running at maximum efficiency, with little room for failure — and the responsibility falls squarely on FOH. A Super El Niño is being predicted this year so we’re bracing for its full effects. With the dry season fast approaching, the time to prepare is NOW. Your support, before the crisis hits this year, will help make sure that every animal has water when it matters most.
The work we undertake is not possible without the generosity of our sponsors, supporters and donors upon which we are entirely reliant. From keeping boreholes running to protecting wildlife and ecosystems, your contributions have a direct, lasting impact.
Please consider a donation via the Donations Button on this page.
Thank you for standing with us – and with the Greater Hwange Landscape
