Elephants on the move in minefields

Press, 23 March 1988, Page 19

Elephants on the move in minefields

JAN RAATH

’ j ■. j ! i ' ; ' '! ■ '■! J'! - |! ’ Hi! r j [ reports! from Zimbabwe on the plight of wildlife I trying to

| ! : exist in a combat zone. ■ | Si]’ ; L

Hid r/huu Like an estimated 600(000 Mozambique ( refugees already lin Zimbabwe, elephants) come across the border into Zimbabwe fleeing war, drought and starya- ! tion. ]|!' . .]| ! ’• !•! Jjl Like their human counterparts, the have to cross'the minefield [that runs for about 720 kilometres along 'the. ,tv(-o- countries’ common border. It!was laid ' in the mid-1970s]|by Rhodesiansecurity forces trying to Stem the flow of black nationalist guerrillas coming to fight against 'the then-Government of lan Smith. But the people; tend Jto know the paths, through; the minefield, where the large signs' along! ithe . fenced area warning . “Danger, lamdmines” are still as relevant as they ! were 10 years, ago, despite attempts |]! to . neutralise them. ;! : I J- '|• |. / Elephants donjt ( know their way through. They push fence and walk through, setting off one and then bluncefirig round in a state of shock, detonating more, until; they; collapse and their bulk, up to five tprines d3ch, can be blown'fto fragments i ‘I Il ■ ' I i! J !

with successive new explosions. A survey a] I year . ago Zimbabwe's Department of National! Parks and Wildlife management of this 505,000-hec-tare Gdnarezhou Rational Park, a flat sea of bushveld bordering the area and among the most rugged 'terrain on | the continent, revealed a “major influx’? of about! a| thousand elephants from Mozambique into the park. The terrain on the other side of the border is as rugged, but it 1 has Jbeen made considerably worse by the decade ofj war between the Mozambique I Government and the South Africanbacked Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo),' plus a total absence of wildlife management. 11 Renamo rebels have long been known to poach ! elephants for ivory] the profits from which are used’ for (other supplies. Poaching i# endemic in the

region,, ' including Gonarezhou (the Land of Elephants in Shangaan vernacular) J an j has produced a ibreed of elephant notorious for (aggressive nature, ; ' Last year, the Zimbabwean sanctuary!became less appealing'. Found I were carcases of more than 40 elephants shoi by poachers. National parks officials believe there 'may be many more as yet Jntraced. I ! Severely under , threat of extinction (in the park is the black rhinoceros, wiped out in most of the rest of the continent as a result of ’uncontrolled poaching. “They’ve taken at least 13 this year, and we’ve only got between 50 and 75 left,” says an official. Renamo rebels; and peasant hunters ]are not the • mly poachers. Last May, what could have been anl angry incidf nt between two friendly countries was hushed lap after ajiational parks anti-pqathing tear* was fired on

bv a group ! of poachers. The J parks men! shot back and k lied two men. Both were in thfe camouflage : uniform of the-Mo-zambique Army, and later confirmed to be army personnel. |i In September,! war, came to the park. AboutjlOO Renamo guerril/ las fought a battle with Zimjbhbwean security forces, and,the donarezhoul: has since been closed! to the public. I Conservationists are worried that an escalation in the fighting vhll deprive ( the park of thje desperately needed management that Zimbabwe’s Parks Department is renowned for providing.! I Drought in the south-east, with the lowest rainfalls since records syere first kept by white settlers at the! turn? of the century, has turned the park into what on'e safari operator describes as “lik-e a First World War trench.” Virtually no water or green edible vegetation, it has mad&’manH ' J J i . - "i I;

agement and control of elephants more viital than ever. “The feituatiqn is critical,]’ says a ’ senior' official. "The pressure l has increased dramatical|y since; the influx fronj Mozambique, and the bush has taken a lheavy pounding." I i I , I ; On the same day that! Zimbabwean! force’s clashed with Renamo, I jnational parks htinters completed al cull, officially known; as a “(controlled population reduction I exercise,” of 1200 elephants, about a quarter'of the; park’s (elephant population. Another operation is expected to be I mounted to cull another 1000 since the parks department believes i that Gonarezhou ,is capable of holding only abodt;2ooo. -As further evidence 01 poachers anti their clumsy ■ hunting, several) | culled dlephapts had automatic firq; wounds. ! “Not |, only that, but most ot them were in ’poor condition. We 1 -I 1 ! IM

can’t mcive (them, so we have to cull them.!ft’s dene very swiftly, so i there s] i|o tine for shock tb register. If we didn’t do it, there would be] a n ass die-out of jumbo in the Gcnarezhou,” says the official. | i are not • the only animals I under severe stress. National parks] ire reported tb be) considering; hther capturing on culling ] a | large number of impala; many i are said to be suffering frpm (mange, q | Hippopotami I are among! the worst affected; |One hunter; recently b'acl] from the park saw possibly 100 crammed into ]a muddy 'pool of just over one acre. Before, hey would-be spread | Over • the once-broad Runde River and its numerous pools in! the park, i There is evidence, sbme of them sometimes walk! 2(ikm in a night in search 1 of] fodd and water. National Iparlts had to cull 150 along ttje 511]m stretch of river inside the park, a third of their population there. ]' Copyright jLcndon Observer Service, i • l! ■ ' ; ■ Hi / (