https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/southern-african-countries-fear-losing-more-elephants-drought-2024-05-30/
It is devastating to note that Zimbabwe has lost 160 elephants in just a year in its premier Hwange National Park as reported by the country's wildlife authority.
This is as a result of draught in the Southern African countries that is now a threat to the endangered species in this region who host the largest elephant population in the world.
The region experienced an extended hot, dry spell during its 2023/24 rainy season, attributed to El Nino, a weather phenomenon marked by the warming of the waters in the eastern Pacific, leading to hotter weather across the world. El Nino has worsened the impact of climate change, scientists say.
Apart from Zimbabwe, other regions affected includes ; Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Namibia who makes up the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) conservation area, a home to 227,000 elephants.
In Botswana for example they lost 300 elephants to drought last year, according to its environment ministry. This calls for an urgent response to save this endangered species.
"The drought has had an adverse effect and you would notice that most of the watering holes in parks around KAZA are drying up," Sikumba told Reuters.
"In the absence of water and food, you will see carcasses dotted around the parks."
What worries me is that the efforts by Zimbabwe authority seems not enough to solve this issue. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) said it had received $3 million from the country's disaster fund to boost water supply in national parks, but its director general Fulton Mangwanya said this was not enough to save wildlife.
"We have over 150 solar powered boreholes. However, it will not stop the elephants from dying when the drought hits hard. We are ready for the drought, but some situations cannot be avoided," Mangwanya said.
