Zimbabwe wildlife parched, dying
Elephants among animals suffering as drought dries up pools
MANA POOLS, Zimbabwe — Elephants, zebras, hippos, impalas, buffaloes and many other wildlife are stressed by lack of food and water in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park, the name of which comes from the four pools of water normally filled by the flooding Zambezi River each rainy season, and where wildlife traditionally drinks. The word “mana” means four in the Shona language.
At least 105 elephants have died in Zimbabwe’s wildlife reserves, most of them in Mana and the larger Hwange National Park in the past two months, according to the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Many desperate animals are straying from Zimbabwe’s parks into nearby communities in search of food and water.
Mana Pools, a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its setting along the Zambezi River, annually experiences hot, dry weather at this time of year. But this year it’s far worse as a result of poor rains last year. Even the river’s flow has reduced.
The drought parching southern Africa is also affecting people. An estimated 11 million people are threatened with hunger in nine countries in the region, according to the World Food Program, which is planning large-scale food distribution. The countries of southern Africa have experienced normal rainfall in only one of the past five growing seasons, it said.
Seasonal rains are expected soon, but parks officials and wildlife lovers, fearing that too many animals will die before then, are hauling in food to help the distressed animals. The harsh conditions persuaded park authorities to abandon their usual policy of not intervening.
Each morning, Munyaradzi Dzoro, a parks agency wildlife officer, prays for rain.
“It’s beginning to be serious,” he said, standing next to the remains of an elephant and a buffalo. “It might be worse if we fail to receive rains” by early November. The last substantial rains were in April, he said.
An early end to a “very poor rainy season” has resulted in insufficient natural vegetation to see the animals through, said Mel Hood, who is participating in the Feed Mana project, which is providing supplementary feeding.
Most of the animals in Mana Pools “are more or less confined to the barren flood plains,” where temperatures soar to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, she said.
Separated from neighboring Zambia by the Zambezi, the region’s once reliable sources of water have turned into death traps for animals desperate to reach the muddy ponds. Many animals in the park have gotten stuck in the clay while trying to reach Long Pool, the largest of the watering holes at 3 miles long.
At just 5% of its normal size, Long Pool is one of the few remaining water sources across the park’s plains. On a recent day, hippos were submerged in some puddles to try to keep their skin from drying out in the extreme heat while birds picked at catfish stranded in the mud.
Two others of Mana’s pools have dried up, while the third is just 20% to 30% of its usual size and dwindling, Dzoro said.
There are more than 12,000 elephants roaming Mana’s flood plains as well as an abundance of lions, buffaloes, zebras, wild dogs, hyenas and elands. The animals are visibly affected by the drought. Some impalas show signs of skin mange. In addition to the land animals, the park has 350 bird and aquatic species, according to the parks agency.
In other parts of Mana, park authorities are pumping water from deep boreholes, but the supplies are barely enough, he said.
“We used to say nature should take its course,” Dzoro said of the park’s normal policy of not intervening and allowing the ecosystem to find its own balance.
“We are now forced to intervene, which is manipulative conservation, because we are not sure when and how we will receive the rain. To avoid losing animals we have to intervene to maintain population sizes,” Dzoro said.
With the acacias, other indigenous trees and grasses that provide the bulk of food for herbivores like elephants and buffaloes also decimated by the drought, authorities began supplementary feeding in July.
Trucks and tractors ferry hay to various locations in the 848-square-mile park. In some spots, elephants, buffaloes and zebras are fed next to each other. The Feed Mana project has so far trucked 14,000 bales to the park, said Hood, the animal welfare campaigner.
The group has been appealing for “urgent” donations of items such as soybean hay, grass and cubes made of nutritious grains and molasses.