Died of starvation or thirst ???

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Four Elephant Calves, Buffaloes Die in Matetsi

The Herald (Harare)

September 16, 2005
Harare

FOUR elephant calves and several buffaloes have died in the dry Matetsi area between Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls amid revelations that there could be massive deaths of wildlife due to starvation.

Environment and Tourism Minister Cde Francis Nhema yesterday confirmed that there were reports of buffaloes dying in the dry area and investigations to establish the cause of the deaths were underway.

"I have not received information pertaining to the four elephant calves but I am aware that several buffaloes were reported dead in the last three weeks," Cde Nhema said.

He said he was expecting a full report from parks ecologists today. Department of Veterinary Services Principal Wildlife Veterinary Officer Dr Chris Foggin yesterday said investigations were required to establish the exact cause of the deaths of the wildlife in the Hwange area.

However, Dr Foggin said there were strong indications that wildlife, particularly the weaners, could have starved to death because of the current drought.

"What is happening does not surprise me because we received poor rains the last season and animals during this time tend to walk long distances to get water and in search of appropriate food.

"It is during these long journeys and the unavailability of nutritious food that they suffer from malnutrition and the vulnerable eventually die," the wildlife veterinary specialist said.

Dr Foggin said the area from which the elephants were dying was highly concentrated with Africa's largest land mammal competing for food and water with other game animals.

"I am doubtful that the deaths could have been as a result of a disease outbreak but we will check it out as soon as I am furnished with enough details," he added.

However, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Major Edward Mbewe, who also confirmed the death of four elephant calves, said they suspected that the big game could have died of a mysterious disease in the park.

"We suspect they died of a disease of some kind and we have assigned wildlife veterinary services to conduct investigations and find out the cause of the deaths," he said.

He, however, told The Herald that the area, including Sinamatella, had not had enough water for the past two weeks after a delay in diesel supplies, which is used to pump water engines scattered around the wildlife sanctuary.

The area does not have natural water reservoirs hence the parks authority uses diesel pumps to supply water to the vast game area, which stretches from the country's major animal sanctuary, Hwange, to the country's top tourism centre, Victoria Falls.

"So the animals rely on water from the pumps. However, at the moment we cannot rule that the calves and buffaloes died of thirst because during that period we tried our best to make water available although it was not enough," Rtd Maj Mbewe said.

He said the authority required up to 3 800 litres of diesel to keep the pumps operational for at least a week.

Plains game and other game species have in the past few years starved to death as they could not compete for basic food and water with the jumbos.

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