NPWA animal stastics disputed

Sunday News Reporter

WILDLIFE operators have accused the National Parks and Wildlife Authority (NPWA) of glaring inaccuracies in its animal census and are contemplating bringing in private wildlife animal demographers to verify the statistics of NPWA, Sunday News can reveal.


Speaking on the sidelines of Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) annual general meeting last Saturday, some operators said NPWA’s samplings leave a lot to be desired as they posed a risk of depleting the number of wild animals to unmanageable levels. The wildlife authority has, however, dismissed the accusation as baseless as their statistics were based on tried and tested methods.
“I do not rely on the statistics of NPWA officials because when I ask them how they arrived at those figures they fail to give satisfactory answers. I fear that I might endanger some of the wild animals in my safari during hunts because you never know the real situation on the ground. As much as I want hunters to apply for hunts I cannot do so now until I get reliable statistics,’’ said one safari operator on condition of anonymity.
Another operator said he was forced to exercise discretion whenever he embarks on hunts because he does not trust the NPWA’s survey.
He said: “Right now, I do not know whether my animals are in appendix one or two and as such I am cautious. There is a need to strike a balance in the number of animals, conservation is the key to survival in this business because failure to do so will see one wiping out some endangered animals.
“The secret of success in this business is conserve and hunt, hunt and conserve. Thus we urge the wildlife authority to raise its game because if they do not do so our faith in them will diminish,’’ said a source.
Dr Morris Mtsambiwa, the director general of NPWA however brushed aside the accusation that his organisation’s wildlife tabulation was riddled with inaccuracies.
“Our statistics are done using tried and proven methods. We follow the book and if some of our stakeholders are not sure of our findings they have every right to conduct a private poll,’’ said Dr Mtsambiwa.
Dr Mtsambiwa was confident that a private demographer would not dismiss, but confirm the NPWA’s findings.
“We have a competent and professional team and I assure wildlife operators that there are no inaccuracies. As I speak now, Mozambique and Zambia want to send some of their personnel to be attached to us in order for them to learn from us. We are highly regarded in southern Africa and that speaks volumes about us.’’
Animals in appendix one are classified as endangered species and hence they should not be hunted. Appendix two animals are hunted, but when the number is depleted they are moved to appendix one. A wildlife operator can decide with the help of statistics to stop hunting certain animals in his area until that animal population grows.