Zimbabwe counts cost of too many elephants
http://www.newzimbabwe.com

23/10/2012 00:00:00
by AFP

A HERD of elephants hobbles past a cluster of acacia trees to a water-hole
deep in Zimbabwe's vast Hwange game reserve, attracted by the drone of
generators pumping water round the clock into the pool.

With the elephant population ballooning, wildlife authorities have resorted
to using 45 generators, each consuming 200 litres (52 gallons) of diesel a
week from June to November, to ensure the animals can get water.

The strategy appears to be working. So far this year around 17 elephants
have died in the area due to the extreme heat and lack of water, compared to
77 last year.

"The elephants drink close to 90 percent of all the water (pumped) here,"
said Edwin Makuwe, an ecologist with the Zimbabwe National Parks and
Wildlife Authority, "I think elephants now know that when they hear an
engine running, chances are that there is water close by."

But the water, while life-preserving, may be running against the flow of
nature. The 14,600-square-kilometre (5,600-square-mile) reserve is home to
between 35,000 to 40,000 elephants, twice its capacity. The increase in the
elephant population has led to higher demand for water at the park, home to
over 100 different species of animals including the "Big Five": elephant,
lion, leopard, buffalo and the endangered rhinoceros.

Makuwe said the rise in the elephant population at the game reserve,
established in 1949, had also led to the destruction of the environment.

"There is so much activity by the elephants that the vegetation has been
affected negatively, the trees are no longer growing as fast as they should,
they are no longer producing as many seeds as they should. In the long term
this will have a negative effect on the entire habitat of Hwange."

He said the quality of the forage had gone down, with elephants stripping
tree barks and digging roots for food.
"The African savanna is supposed to be a mosaic of trees and grasses. The
moment you start to have more grasslands than trees it is not functioning as
African savanna."

Makuwe fears small animals and insects who live in the trees risk
extinction.

"If you lose the trees and you are left with the grasslands, then definitely
some of the species will be lost," he said.
The authorities are yet to find a solution. "Some people advocate to let
nature take its course ... (but) we are yet to find a method which can
convince all the people to accept and bring down the (elephant) population,"
Makuwe added.

With tourists, who have shunned the country over the years, slowly
returning, there is little incentive to cull the main attraction.

In the meantime, Tom Milliken, of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said
elephants in Hwange were suffering greatly due to the water shortages.

"This is the worst time of the year for elephants and we still have a month
before the rains come," he told AFP. "Elephants have most stress this time
of the year when there is no water."

If I remember last year the Sultan of Qwtar stepped up to the plate and donated $$$ to keep the pumps running.

When I was in the Eastern Cape last year a landowner I was hunting with knew of a member of Middle Eastern Royalty who was to take 15 bulls in the Hwange area in 2011...probably the same person..AGAIN the HUNTERS stepping up!

If the Emir of Qatar can donate a half billion dollars to Hamas, he ought to be able to donate some cash to his Zim friends.

Use enough gun, I must say that the Sheik of Quatar is one of the most kind persons I have had the pleasure to meet. We where presented in Vegas by a common friend and had dinner one night.
He does not support HAMAS. I AM DISGUSSTED WITH YOUR COMMENT.If the reason for your unacceptable comment is he is an arab, maybe you should not log in in this page anymore.
The money and materials he has been donating do not go to Mugabe and his croonies. It goes directly to pumping water in the WANKIE PARK, trough a very respectable safari operator. He has been supporting those pumps for a few years now. Others that have supported those pumps are Houston Safari club, D3 and other US fellow hunters.
Apart from that, schools and hospitals have been built thanks to him and other US hunters. I am personally going with 14 dentists for the second year in a row to treat, for free, villagers from the influx area of the park. Trying to make them understand what sport hunting does for them.
So please THINK what you write before doing so because you sound like an absolut racist to me.
Excuse my poor english but I am just a Spaniard trying to communicate in a foreing language.

Don't believe everything you read, this is just another way for them to try and lobby for the export of their stockpiled ivory and is merely an excuse for their total lack of planning over the last several years. I for one would like to know what qualifications our learned reporter has that can justify this garbage.

The last several years of game counts show on average 17 000 - 25 000 elephants during the dry season, this number is far less at other times of the year, 40 000 my ass!

It's always about the meat and the ivory isn't it !!

Mart

Diego,
I believe he is talking about the "Emir" meeting with the leader of the terrorist group Hamas.

The Emir meeting with the leader of Hamas and supporting Hamas are quite different.

quote:

He does not support HAMAS. I AM DISGUSSTED WITH YOUR COMMENT.If the reason for your unacceptable comment is he is an arab, maybe you should not log in in this page anymore.

Dwarf, you are full of crap. One night around a dinner table makes you an expert does it. You must be a mind reader.

I may be full of crap, no doubt about that but at least I do not bash people arround without proof. I do know first hand a lot of the things that have been done in Zimbabwe thanks to this guy. I do know he enters freely in the US wich; I hope, inspects people before letting them in to know if they support terrorists.
I am just saying that if you judge people for where they come from, that is racism.
If you have solid proof that the Emir is supporting ANY terrorist group please let us all know. Maybe you have information I do not have. If so, I apologyce. If not....

I am against any terrorist group out there. My family has been in their target list because my grandad was comandant in the Spanish army. I now the sensation of thinking you may be the next one.
I used to take the train on thursday mornings in Madrid.(Atocha) 197 victims 11/march. luckily that day I had traveled to work the prior night.
I hate terrorists.If all of them died I would not drop a tear.
That said, I still mantain that the Emir of Quatar has done a lot for Wankie national park. That is just because he hunts there, wich proofs my point that hunters stand up to defend the enviroment much more than all those bunny huggers that look us hunters over the shoulder.
He does not give the money to Mugabe, he puts it to work in the areas he hunts.

Dwarf. I don't have much interest in a political flame war, but I am puzzled by your response to Use Enough Gun. I didn't see anything "disgusting" about his comment or derogatory to anyone of any race or nationality. He noted, in a single sentence that the Emir of Qatar had donated half a billion dollars to Hamas.

Quoting from Reuters news coverage this morning:

"The Emir of Qatar embraced the Hamas leadership of Gaza on Tuesday with an official visit breaking the isolation of the militant Palestinian Islamist movement, to the dismay of Israel and rival, Western-backed Palestinian leaders in the West Bank."

Use Enough was 100MM off on his statement. Reuters noted that the Emir had pledged 400MM to Gaza projects, not half a billiion.

Diego:

quote:

If you have solid proof that the Emir is supporting ANY terrorist group please let us all know.

HAMAS are not terrorists?....Ah, No of course not..they are Resistance fighters similar to your ETA

The Emir donated approx. $0.5B to Hamas for various reconstruction projects which one would assume would be directed at schools, hospitals and rose gardens......and the world is expected to believe that?

just read all the replys. I did not have all the info and seems I misjudged Use Enough Gun. I publicly apologyce and hope he will accept them. I will gather more info on hamas and the Sheik donation and will make an opinion from that point. Until then Will not do any further comment on geopolitics but still say the sheik and other us hunters do a lot of good to Hwange park.
I also want to state I hate any terrorist group! I do not mindwhat they defend!