Zimbabwe Plans To Collar Elephants In Hwange National Park
Zimbabwe is launching a programme to collar and track dominant female elephants in Hwange National Park.
The goal is to reduce the ongoing conflict between elephants and local farmers. Elephants in the park often leave the protected area, damaging crops and putting people at risk.
The project, run by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), will track the elephants’ movements.
Since herds are led by a dominant female (a matriarch), collaring eight of these matriarchs will help track the movements of multiple elephant herds.
Around half Zimbabwe’s 100,000 elephants live in and around Hwange National Park, making it home to one of the world’s largest elephant populations.
In a joint statement, IFAW, Zimparks, and Zimparks said, “Elephants will be fitted with satellite-enabled GPS collars to study how the mega-herbivores are utilising the human-dominated landscape.”
Earlier this week, State media reported that Hwange residents are living in fear of stray elephants, which are imposing curfews from dusk to dawn, putting mine workers and others at risk of attacks.
In 2023, Lydia Dube (30), a female security guard was trampled to death by an elephant while guarding a broken-down crane at Chaba Opencast mine.
Dube was rushed to Hwange Colliery Hospital where her condition deteriorated before being transferred to Mpilo where she succumbed to the injuries on arrival.
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