Livingstone, Zambia (Reuters) – Southern African countries, known for the largest elephant population in the world, are anticipating an increase in animal fatalities in the upcoming months as a severe drought has led to dwindling food and water sources. The region experienced an extended hot, dry spell during the 2023/24 rainy season, attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has exacerbated the impact of climate change. This has not only affected water and food supplies for humans and livestock but also wildlife.
Impact on Elephant Population
- Zimbabwe lost 160 elephants in its premier Hwange National Park in the year to January 2024, while Botswana lost 300 elephants to drought last year. Additionally, Zambia has confirmed deaths of elephants in its national parks, with Minister of Environment Rodney Sikumba describing the drought as “devastating”.
Meeting for Sustainable Wildlife Management
The five countries comprising the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) conservation area – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, and Namibia, with a combined 227,000 elephants – are convening in Livingstone, Zambia, to discuss sustainable wildlife management. Minister of Environment Rodney Sikumba highlighted the adverse effect of the drought, leading to drying up of watering holes and carcasses in parks around KAZA.
Efforts and Challenges
- The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) received $3 million from the country’s disaster fund to boost water supply in national parks, but its director general Fulton Mangwanya expressed concerns about the insufficiency of funds to save wildlife.
- Climate change has intensified human-wildlife conflict as elephants encroach on human habitat in search of food and water, resulting in a significant loss of human lives to elephant attacks. The International Fund for Animal Welfare’s director for landscape conservation emphasized the heightened risk of food shortage for wildlife and stressed the importance of fire management to sustain food available for wildlife .
This article has been adapted from the original source.
References:
[1] Southern African countries fear losing more elephants to drought
[2] Predicting the Likelihood of Human-elephant Conflict and Assessing …
[3] Drought increases conflicts between elephants and people – NPR
