By Nyasha Chingono
LIVINGSTONE, Zambia (Reuters) – Southern African countries home to the world’s largest elephant population fear a rise in animal deaths in the coming months as food and water sources dwindle following a severe drought.
The region suffered a prolonged period of heat and drought during the 2023/24 rainy season, attributed to El Nino, a climate phenomenon marked by warming waters in the eastern Pacific, leading to warmer weather across the world. El Niño has worsened the impact of climate change, scientists say.
The drought has affected water and food supplies for humans, livestock and wildlife.
Zimbabwe lost 160 elephants in its main Hwange National Park in the year to January 2024, according to the country’s wildlife authority.
Botswana lost 300 elephants to drought last year, according to its environment ministry.
Others, such as Zambia, have also confirmed elephant deaths in their national parks, with Environment Minister Rodney Sikumba describing the drought as “devastating”.
The five countries that make up the Kavango-Zambezi Conservation Area (KAZA) – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Namibia, home to a total of 227,000 elephants – are meeting in Livingstone, Zambia, to discuss sustainable wildlife management .
“The drought has had an adverse effect and you would notice that most of the water fountains in the parks around KAZA are drying up,” Sikumba told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
“In the absence of water and food, you will see carcasses scattered throughout the parks.”
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) said it had received $3 million from the country’s disaster fund to increase water supplies in national parks, but its director general, Fulton Mangwanya, said this was not enough to save wildlife.
“We have more than 150 solar-powered wells. However, this will not stop elephants from dying when drought hits hard. We are ready for drought, but some situations cannot be avoided,” Mangwanya said.
Delegates said climate change has worsened human-wildlife conflict as elephants invade human habitat in search of food and water. Last year, Zimbabwe lost 50 people to elephant attacks.
Philip Kuvawoga, the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) director for landscape conservation, said wildlife faces a greater risk of food shortages due to drought and increased fire risk.
“Fire management is important so that we can retain and sustain the food available to wildlife,” he said.
(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nelson Banya and Mark Potter)
