- Title: Fears for Zimbabwe elephant population
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE (OCTOBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) ELEPHANT MOVING PAST DEAD ELEPHANT ON GROUND / BIRDS PECKING AT CARCASS VARIOUS OF DEAD ELEPHANTS DEAD ELEPHANT SURROUNDED BY BIRDS PECKING AT BODY OF DEAD ELEPHANT HERD OF ELEPHANTS BY BODY OF WATER / DEAD ELEPHANT ON GROUND HERD OF ELEPHANTS MOVING PAST DEAD BABY ELEPHANT ELEPHANTS DRINKING FROM BODY OF WATER ELEPHANTS WALKING HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) ZIMBABWE NATIONAL PARKS (ZIMPARKS) ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT COORDINATION UNIT DRIVING PAST ELEPHANT CARCASS ZIMPARKS WORKERS INSPECTING ELEPHANT CARCASS WORKERS COUNTING NUMBER OF ELEPHANTS IN HERD (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATIONAL ELEPHANT COORDINATOR, TINAAPI MADIRI, SAYING: "Going into the future with the increased droughts due to climate change and other phenomenon, we are likely to experience more and more of this drought which could possibly impact significantly on our elephant population." NATIONAL ELEPHANT COORDINATOR, TINAAPI MADIRI, SHOWING COLLEAGUE MAP (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATIONAL ELEPHANT COORDINATOR, TINAAPI MADIRI, SAYING: "Short term, another consideration is the drilling of more boreholes (type of well) in strategic areas so that we promote dispersal of elephants away from those boreholes. Long term; I think connectivity becomes an issue as we must seek to disperse the elephant population outside, out of the current range and into other less densely populated areas." HERD OF ELEPHANTS WALKING (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATIONAL ELEPHANT COORDINATOR, TINAAPI MADIRI, SAYING: "We expect this situation to normalise and not much will be lost during the course of the year." DEAD ELEPHANT WITH EXPOSED BONES / PATROLLER WALKING ON VARIOUS OF DEAD ELEPHANT
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 15:57
- Keywords: Zimbabwe elephants wildlife climate change drought
- Location: HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE
- City: HWANGE NATIONAL PARK, ZIMBABWE
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GJQDJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Fears for Zimbabwe's elephant population are rising, after at least 55 elephants died at a game park from starvation and thirst caused by severe drought, National Elephant Coordinator Tinaapi Madiri said on Thursday (October 24).
The animals died near water holes, a sign that they had travelled long distances to access water, in Hwange National Park which holds the biggest elephant herd of 45,000 animals.
Madiri said they are considering drilling more wells for water, to stop herds concentrating near current water sources and disperse them into less densely populated areas.
He said the deaths of the animals would not have a material effect on the herds. However, he added that future droughts caused by climate change, as well as other phenomena, are likely to significantly impact on the number of elephants.
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