Friends of Hwange assists Parks’ staff with various aspects of research as regards animal and wildlife welfare. This requires working closely with the HNP Wildlife Authority as well as with the Forestry Commission, the National Police and other major stake holders in the greater Hwange landscape.
Some of this work involves investigation into unexplained animal fatalities. It’s vital to be aware of incidences of rabies, anthrax, tuberculosis, canine distemper, and other infectious diseases. Postmortems must be performed, and samples collected for veterinary analysis. Carcasses must be reached quickly before advanced decomposition sets in as accurate diagnosis depends upon collection of fresh tissue samples – a challenging feat under harsh conditions and an under-resourced race against time, distance, and heat.
Recently, investigations into the cause of numerous elephant deaths that are occurring in the north of the park have been ongoing. In late 2020, when a group of young elephants keeled over and died near Hwange National Park, it was initially assumed anthrax to be the culprit – a common killer at that time of year. But Anthrax deaths are usually individual and widespread, and, in this case, the elephants died in a cluster. Something was amiss and samples were collected and sent to international labs with facilities to do comprehensive tests. Eventually, Pasteurella Bisgaard taxon 45 was identified, bacteria that result in a buildup of blood toxins causing septicaemia and sudden death. This has not been known to affect elephants in the past. The potential for Bisgaard taxon 45 to spread is alarming, so it needs to be closely monitored. Fortunately, there are now local veterinary facilities available that can test for it, transporting samples is expensive nevertheless.
Much of this investigatory work is not glamorous or fun but is essential . As well as elephants, animals like lions, buffalos, vultures, hyaenas, giraffes, various antelope species and others are included.
Data collection for analysis is an important aspect of wildlife monitoring and is key in indicating species declines.
Anti Poaching
Due to the continuing socioeconomic decline in Zimbabwe, poaching for bush meat has escalated. Ivory poaching is also of major concern. Ranger and scout patrols are essential to locate incidents of poaching, to follow the culprits and to help bring them to book. A significant amount of poaching occurs immediately outside the park’s boundaries due to human encroachment into the buffer zones. These areas act as transit routes from communal areas where known paths and poacher access routes exist. Regular snare patrols help combat poaching in these hot spots but funds are needed to provide this.