Location: Matabeleland North Province Map
Area: 14,651 km²
Hwange National Park is the largest national park in Zimbabwe at 14,651 square kilometers. The park is located in the west of the country in the foothills of the Kalahari on the border with Botswana 200 km north-west of the city of Bulawayo. The park, in which there is a great diversity of species, is one of the most important nature reserves in the country. It is part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
The area is said to have served as a royal hunting
ground for King Mzilikazi as early as the 19th century. As early as
1928, the area was placed under nature protection as a wildlife reserve
by the British colonial administration. In 1930 it received the status
of a national park. The national park is named after a local tribal
leader.
Abiotic environmental factors
The national park is
located in the transition area from the Kalahari desert in the
south-west to the wetter savannas in the north-east. The altitude ranges
from 938 meters to 1152 meters. About two-thirds of the area is sandy
soils, broken up by established dunes and dry southwest-trending river
valleys. Under the sand is a layer of local stone. In the north, the
soils originated from the weathering zone of the existing rocky subsoil,
this part drains northwards towards the Zambezi.
Annual
precipitation is about 655 mm, decreasing to the south-west. The rain
falls mainly in the months of November to March. Most water bodies are
temporary, salt accumulates. The hottest temperatures are reached before
the rainy season, in October. June and July are the coldest months, with
occasional light frosts.
vegetation and flora
The vegetation
changes analogously with the amount of precipitation from the desert
south-west to the tree-covered north-east. Grassland with a few camel
thorn acacias (Acacia erioloba) can be found on the dry, sandy soil
hardened by local stone. The east is more densely overgrown, with
Baikiaea plurijuga, Baikiaea africana, Guibourtia coleosperma and
Pterocarpus angolensis on taller trees. Terminalia sericea, Combretum
and Acacia species grow in the undergrowth. In the north, with better
water and soil conditions, Mopane forest grows with Mopane
(Colophospermum mopane), Combretum and Commiphora species.
fauna
In the park there are populations of African elephant (Loxodonta
africana), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), giraffe (Giraffa
camelopardalis), Burchell's zebra (Equus burchelli), hippopotamus
(Hippopotamus amphibius), desert warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus), a
large number of antelopes, among them Wildebeest, greater kudu
(Tragelaphus strepsiceros), impala (Aepyceros melampus) and sable
antelope (Hippotragus niger). Other mammals present are lion (Panthera
leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), African
wild dog (Lycaon pictus) and two species of hyena.
Bird species,
genera and families present are, depending on the season, finches
(Estrildidae), serins (Serinus), pigeons (Columbidae), francolins
(Francolinus), guinea fowl (Numididae), sandgrouse (Pteroclididae) and
starlings (Sturnidae) during the Dry season. During the rainy season,
cuckoos (Cuculidae), swallows (Hirundinidae), swifts (Apodidae),
flycatchers (Muscicapidae), nightjars (Caprimulgus), Egyptian geese
(Alopochen aegyptiacus), red-billed ducks (Anas erythrorhyncha) and mute
gooses (Sarkidiornis melanotos) stay there.
Existing birds of
prey are gleepers (Terathopius ecaudatus) and lappet-faced vultures
(Torgos tracheliotus), Bengal vultures (Gyps bengalensis), Cape vultures
(Gyps coprotheres), woolly vultures (Trigonoceps occipitalis) and hooded
vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus).
62 wells were drilled to
preserve the animal population during the dry season. Animal migrations
to the wetter northeast, to the Gwayi River, are interrupted by
settlements. In addition, the park is fenced in to reduce the
transmission of foot-and-mouth disease.
The population of
elephants was estimated at 2000 to 4000 animals around 1930. By 1985 the
number had increased to between 12,000 and 14,000 animals. In 2006,
estimates were between 30,000 and 40,000 elephants. In 2017 the stock
was given as around 23,000 animals. The population is also supported by
the artificial water points, but in dry years the mortality rate
increases significantly. Locally, the elephants cause changes and
disturbances in the vegetation.
Management and poaching
Camps
with branch offices of the national park administration are located in
Robins, Sinamatella and at the portal of the park (main camp).
In
2013, a total of 81 elephants were killed after two separate incidents
caused the herds' watering holes to be poisoned with cyanide. As a
result, nine poachers were arrested and a large quantity of ivory was
seized. The number of smaller animals killed by the poison and the
number of predators that ingested the poison indirectly were not fully
recorded statistically.
The killing of the lion Cecil at the
beginning of July 2015 caused a great stir. The lion with the striking
black mane was considered the symbol of the national park and was well
known to visitors and locals alike. A US dentist testified that he
hunted the lion with a bow and arrow. He paid $55,000 to shoot a lion,
hired a local safari agency, and assumed that killing the lion was
legal. According to newspaper reports, his guides lured the lion with a
carcass. Outside the borders of the safe national park, the lion was
wounded with an arrow by the American, only forty hours later Cecil
could be found and killed by a gunshot. The lion was part of a research
program at Oxford University, and neither the hunter nor his hunting
assistants claim to have noticed the GPS collar. After Cecil was killed,
his head was severed and the skin was skinned. The hunters tried in vain
to destroy the collar and then hid it in a tree. The head and fur, which
have already been prepared for preparation, have now been handed over to
the authorities. The American hunter, the head of the safari agency and
the owner of the property where the lion's carcass was found have been
charged with poaching by local authorities. The case attracted worldwide
attention. Animal welfare organizations and many celebrities, including
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Amy Macdonald, Ricky Gervais, Nicky Rothschild
and Mia Farrow, condemned the hunter and called for the end of trophy
hunting.