Kathi asked me to post this report along with the photos.


27th October 2005


ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE


UPDATE ON FIRST FUEL DELIVERY TO HWANGE

In the report we circulated about our first fuel delivery to Hwange National Park, we said that we were waiting for photographs that were taken in Hwange after our departure. We have now received them and the first 6 pictures attached are a small selection of numerous photos received. Here are some brief descriptions:


1) One of many dry troughs before the water went in. At each pan, fresh water is pumped into a trough and is then supposed to overflow into the pan.


2) Kudu trying to get water from a dry pan.


3) Hippo in the mud. He was seen lying like this in the mud for 2 days and then he disappeared so he is presumably still alive.


4) Dead buffalo in trough. There was actually water in this trough and it is thought that this buffalo found the water too late and died of exhaustion.


5) Elephants fighting for water. When the first pump engine was refuelled and fired up, the elephants were all trying to drink the water as it was coming out of the pipe.


6) Animals in a muddy pan. There are very few pans which have any water at all but the water is unpalatable sludge as you can see by the mud on the coat of the sable in the foreground.

SECOND FUEL DELIVERY

A very special thank you to all the wonderful people who were generous enough to donate funds which enabled us to buy a further 10 000 litres of diesel and our heartfelt appreciation goes to the Unifreight Group who assisted us with a truck to take the fuel to Hwange. The truck we used was not able to carry the full amount so we delivered just under 9 000 litres - half to Sinamatella and the balance to the Main Camp area. We will deliver the remaining 1 000 litres on the next trip.



Left, Cheryl Rodrigues, centre Johnny Rodrigues and right, Joanne Buckley Lamb.

We loaded up the diesel and left Harare on Wednesday 19th October. Joanne Buckley Lamb, a member of the ZCTF team and a qualified conservationist followed the truck in her landrover. We booked her into Sinamatella for a month so that she can monitor and supervise the distribution of the fuel and report back to us at regular intervals.



We offloaded half of the fuel into the underground tanks at Sinamatella . We discovered whilst we were there that the fuel shortage is not the only problem in Hwange. Several of the pump engines are not working and the National Parks staff there, most of whom are very concerned about the welfare of the wildlife, are fighting a losing battle because they are unable to obtain the spare parts to repair the engines.

We hope that we have delivered enough fuel to last until the rains start but it has now become top priority to source spare parts for the Lister engines. Even with the fuel we have delivered, the situation all over Hwange National Park is catastrophic and we have to get those engines running. If anybody can help with Lister spares or engines, either as a donation or for sale, please contact us as soon as possible. Contact details are below. If we can raise more funds, we will buy spares and/or engines so if anyone can help with funds we would be most grateful.

We spent the night in Sinamatella and early the next morning, set off for Main Camp. We delivered the remainder of the fuel to The Hide in the Main Camp area where it will be carefully monitored and distributed by Barry Wolhuter whose invaluable assistance is greatly appreciated.

After our first fuel delivery of 7 000 litres to this area, 9 pumps were running but Main Camp is experiencing the same problems as Sinamatella. The engines have not been maintained and have all started breaking down. Due to this, The Hide is one of the very few places that still has water, although the water in the pan is extremely low and is so muddy that the animals are not able to drink it.

At The Hide, fresh water is however being pumped 24 hours a day into the trough in front of the pan but there is such an intense concentration of animals drinking from it, that the trough never gets full enough for water to overflow into the pan. Under normal circumstances, there would be several watering points for the animals and they would all be spread out throughout the park, drinking from different pans but in this critical situation, where the watering points are so few and far between, the animals will naturally congregate where they know they can get water.






The sight we were greeted with when we arrived at The Hide can only be described as total mayhem. For as far as the eye could see, were herds and herds of buffalo walking towards the trough to drink. Around the pan and the trough were more animals than we have ever seen before. At one time, we counted 10 different species all there at the same time. In Pic 12, we tried to show all 10 species in one photo but the camera lens wasn't wide enough to take it all in. It was the saddest, most incredible sight we have ever seen.

We sat and watched the drama for hours on end. It went on all day and all night. Buffalo take precedence over the smaller animals so whilst the buffalo were drinking from the trough, the smaller animals such as zebra, kudu, sable, impala, monkeys and wildebeest had no option but to wait their turn. The buffalo would not allow any other species to come near the trough while they were drinking and this took a few hours in view of the huge numbers of buffalo wanting to drink.

The zebras became more and more impatient and finally, in desperation plucked up the courage to try and force their way in but they were quickly put in their place.


Eventually, the buffalo moved off and the zebra had their chance to drink. Then the sable came in and forced the zebra out with their lethal horns. We very seldom saw two different species drinking from the trough at once - the animals wouldn't allow it.


After all this, the trough was almost dry, despite the fact that water was flowing into it constantly through a pipe so we decided to fill it with 2 000 litres of water from The Hide's bowser. When the landrover towing the bowser approached the trough, the animals all moved off into the trees nearby and waited for it to leave so that they could return to the trough.

As soon as the landrover drove away, the smaller animals such as monkeys and impala seized the opportunity and managed to drink for a few minutes before the larger animals came back.

It wasn't long before the buffalo forced their way in again, but not for long because towards evening, the elephants came in and they are a force to be reckoned with. Several families of elephants lumbered in, flapping their ears and swiping the buffalo away from the trough with their trunks. It was quite clear who the "King of the Jungle" was.

Within half an hour, the water level in the trough was very low again but the elephants stayed all night. We could hear them trumpeting all through the night and they were still there around the trough when we woke up the next morning.

We would like to thank Barry and Bridget Wolhuter and the management and staff of The Hide for once again accommodating and feeding us in the interests of conservation. It was a great privilege for us to stay in this beautiful, world class safari camp, albeit for one night, where the food and service is second to none. The Hide is like an oasis in the desert and we highly recommend it to anyone.


Although our trip to Hwange was unforgettable and spectacular as far as game viewing goes, we were also witnessing a tragedy. When animals are so desperate for water that they will kill each other to get it, we have to do something to help. The elephant in this last picture was killed by another elephant in a fight for water and several animals have already died of dehydration.

As soon as we start raising more funds, we will buy the spare parts for the engines and go up to Hwange with a team of mechanics and do the repairs. Our plan for the future is to make regular visits to Hwange to ensure that a crisis of this nature never happens again.

If anyone can help, please contact us as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more animals are going to die.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Phone 263 4 336710
Fax 263 4 339065
Mobile 263 11 603 213
Email galorand@mweb.co.zw
http://www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
http://www.zimbabwe-art.com

Zimbabwe is a sad place for the animals and the human population.

This is tragic.

And all that would be needed to correct all of these disasters we hear about would be:

1. An open and free foreign exchange market.

2. Respect for private property rights.

3. Rule of law.

In light of this sad state of affairs would AR members try and put together a relief fund quickly to send some money?

I guess every little helps. Would a moderator on the AR forum step forward to please be responsible to collect the money?

Look forward to your thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Reddy375

What a sadness!

Now visualize this being more widespread and extending to the human population ... now you have genuine tragedy.

I don't have much money, but I can surely kick in some for this project. Please let me know where to send a check.

Philanthropy from the destitute .

I have sent them an email to see if there are any key Lister diesel parts required which are not too heavy.
I have offered to source some parts and air freight them. I can't afford much either but unless there is something doen the wildlife population at Hwange will crash.
Maybe some of you guys could do something similar?
The idea of a moderator taking control of a fund to contribute $ may work.
We have to be sure we can get all the funds to the correct hands.
APB

Magazine launches Zim wildlife rescue plan

November 02 2005 at 03:44AM

Getaway magazine has responded to a report published this week in Independent Newspapers about the plight of wildlife in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park and has launched a rescue plan to supply fuel to the park's borehole pumps and for anti-poaching.

Getaway's associate editor Don Pinnock said Caltex South Africa, Mitsibishi Fuso and Flame Lily Holidays would source fuel for the park and a vehicle to assist in the deepening crisis.

Independent Newspapers reported that most of the park's borehole pumps were not working because the Zimbabwe government had no foreign currency to import spares.

Hwange National Park's animals depend on water pumped from underground to more than five dozen pans around the vast wilderness.



This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on November 02, 2005