Parks spending US$25 000 monthly on water for jumbos

The Herald- September 3, 2007

Bulawayo Bureau

THE Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is spending about US$25 000 per month on water game supply for elephants alone at the Hwange National Park as the species’ population increases, it has been learnt.

Hwange National Park, which is the third biggest in Africa, is the only park in the region providing artificial water supplies. According to experts, neighbouring Botswana does not provide water points at all.

In an interview on Friday, Parks director general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa confirmed the situation.

"Hwange National Park is the only park where we provide artificial water supplies. As statistics stand, now we are spending close to US$25 000 per month on water provision alone in that park alone. I am saying this is money that is being ploughed into one park alone of which the bulk of the water is drunk by the elephants," he said.

Dr Mtsambiwa was quick to point out that the amount did not include the contribution of some private stakeholders towards the sustenance of the park.

"You should bear in mind that we have our good friends who are assisting us by pumping other stations. They are also using huge amounts of money towards that and we do not include this in the figure that I have mentioned," he said.

Dr Mtsambiwa said this was money that could be used for other constructive conservation processes yet it was going into one park.

"I want you to understand this: we are prepared to pour no matter how much money towards making Hwange what it is. But at the same time we are saying this could be halved if certain animal population management strategies are brought into work. As I have said, the bulk of the water is drunk by the elephants and there are ways through which we can control the numbers of the elephants," he said.

Dr Mtsambiwa said it was unfortunate that some stakeholders worldwide were against the culling of elephants.

"In Zimbabwe, the official way of controlling the numbers of elephants is through trophy hunting. There is a total of 500 elephants that we hunt per year but this is not enough to bring the numbers to manageable levels," he said.

Dr Mtsambiwa said other stakeholders, among them local authorities, were also compounding the problem by not pumping water.

"Our rural district councils are not pumping water and so are the private players in the industry.

"Most importantly and significantly, Botswana is not pumping hence the influx of the elephants that we see in the country. This puts pressure onto our parks, hence the amount of money we are forced to part with in order to make water available," he said.

Meanwhile, Parks officials are set to meet tomorrow to discuss A review of the rates of their properties countrywide.

"Officials from the authority will meet tomorrow to come up with commercial rates for all our properties countrywide. I can safely say we will be increasing our tariffs in line with all the commercial rates in the country," Dr Mtsambiwa said.

Parks has been charging annual fees of as little as $25 000 per year for some of its upmarket facilities dotted around the country.

"Yes, we are aware that some of our tariffs are below commercial rates and we are saying in the spirit of improving service delivery these are to be reviewed," Dr Mtsambiwa said.

He said instead of making annual reviews, the authority was considering having quarterly reviews.

"All along we have been making people pay annual fees for their leases, but we have come to realise that for us to run viably we have to reduce the time period, which is one of the things to be discussed when the officials meet on Tuesday.

"The other area where we have had problems is that people would win leases and instead of developing the sites in question, they would sit on them. Under the new arrangement, potential lease holders are to be given a period in which they are supposed to make some developments or risk losing the land," he said.

In Zimbabwe, the official way of controlling the numbers of elephants is through trophy hunting. There is a total of 500 elephants that we hunt per year but this is not enough to bring the numbers to manageable levels," he said.

That's an interesting quote.

yukon delta,
I have seen a report by Graham Child a former Director of Zim's National Parks.
He states that in 1986 a cull of 2500 elephant per year would be required to keep Zimbabwe's Elephant population at a maximum of 50 000 which he felt was a population that Zimbabwe could support .
Only a few other culls took pace after this date and by 1992 with a Elephant population of 75 000, no further culling has taken place.

Do you have a copy of that report?

Ok, I was wondering but Ganyana would know for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Do you have a copy of that report?

Yes.

Ganyana,
Is Mr Child's report BS or is it the report on $25,000 monthly water bill?