Building the World s Largest Drinking Fountains for Elephants A bricks-and-mortar project to save Hwange s endangered habitat Look me in the eye and make a promise to help save my species, which is disappearing at the rate of 35,000 a year!! SCROLL DOWN to read this fascinating photo story of how Elefence a small American foundation -- is working to save 25,000 of my herd in a lost paradise
Hwange: Africa s Lost Paradise Serengeti. Masai-Mara. Kilimanjaro. Household names. What about Hwange? Few people on the planet have ever heard of it. Yet Hwange National Park has the highest diversity of mammals of any national park in the world. Lion, leopard, cheetah, white rhino, black rhino, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, sable, kudu, impala, roan, hyena, wild dog, buffaloes in the thousands only a partial list of 108 mammal species. Hwange has over 25,000 elephants compared to the Serengeti s several hundred. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe s economy continues to flounder due to political problems. Sadly, some tourists shy away from Zimbabwe. This is a shame since the parks are safe for tourists. Consequently because of lack of tourism, Hwange became a neglected park, nearly forgotten-- Africa s lost paradise. As you will read, a visionary Zimbabwean foundation has courageously stepped forward to help save Hwange s habitat for its wild animals. Hwange NP is located on the northwestern corner of Zimbabwe in one of the driest parts of the country. It is Zimbabwe s largest park measuring a massive 14,651km². Hwange is mainly unfenced, making it a true wilderness. Its ecosystem spills over into Botswana, allowing the elephants to migrate in huge numbers across the unfenced border. The park s major source of revenue is through non-consumptive or small photographic safaris. Without tourism, Hwange cannot survive into the future. Above all, Hwange is one of the last great habitats for elephants remaining on earth -- estimated at a staggering 25,000 population!
Considering that 35,000 elephants are butchered every year to fuel CHINA S booming ivory market [National Geographic], this shocking fact makes Hwange s elephants even more precious. The elephant is facing extinction overnight in many parts of Africa! Hwange s Challenging Problems of Water Scarcity: Although Hwange receives barely 600mm of rainfall annually, the bulk of the park has no perennial natural water bodies such as rivers or dams. The success story of Hwange as a haven for wild animals started in 1935 when the then warden Ted Davison drilled the first borehole at Ngweshla, a borehole which is still working up to this day and is one of the most frequented waterholes in the Park. This intervention availed the much needed resource in the Park: water to wildlife. The provision of water resulted in a magnificent increase in most wildlife species, and today Hwange is known to have one of the highest concentrations of mammal and birdlife species, more than any other national park in Southern Africa.
Historical Necessity for Introducing Manmade Pans Historically, when the natural waterholes dried up in Hwange, the animals would follow natural migratory paths from the Hwange area right up to the Zambezi River. However, as the country developed and human habitation and settlements increased, more and more of the migration routes were closed off preventing the wildlife from following these routes -- and restricting safe and uninhabited areas for the animals to reside in. Consequently, the decreasing spaces available to Africa s wild animals have highlighted the importance of preserving their habitats -- especially Hwange National Park. This vast reserve provides a protected ecosystem for wildlife to survive, as well as help decrease the human-animal conflict, and poaching. Hwange Must Rely On A Series Of Diesel Pumps Throughout the Park [Dry Season] To safeguard the wildlife s habitat during the dry season, the park must rely on a series of diesel-powered Lister engines to pump the water from the boreholes to the pans. Without the pumps, elephants and other wildlife will perish.
There is a downside, however, by continuing to use and invest in diesel engines. The exorbitantly high-operating cost of diesel threatens the limited resources of the underfunded Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority. Because of Zimbabwe s disastrous economic situation under President Mugabe s rule, the national parks are a low priority with the government. Consequently, this is why African Bush Camps Foundation stepped up to the plate to donate profits from its tourist camps to help keep some of the diesel engines running in Hwange. For now, it s a Band-Aid fix only because pouring more money into obsolete diesel engines is a formula for failure. Eventually all antiquated diesel pumps will malfunction in the future, resulting in more and more pans to be abandoned. Consequently, elephants will search for water found in wells near villages outside the park boundaries, thereby increasing dangerous human-wildlife conflict. The High Cost of Diesel. Every two weeks, the fuel barrels must be topped up. Transport of diesel from Bulawayo, a town over 5 hours from the park border, adds greatly to the exorbitant cost of operating the pumps. CLICK HERE to Continue our story or Click Here to learn How Can I Help?