BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Numbers of giraffes in Hwange National Park are said to be currently stable, following years of fears that they may continue decimating due to poaching, climate change and increasing coal mines around the park.
According to Bhejane Trust, a wildlife conservation organisation in Matabeleland North Province, the numbers were confirmed to be steady following a recent research inside the park.
Bhejane said the research project was set up to monitor trends in the giraffe population as giraffe are endangered almost throughout Africa and threatened by competition for food with elephants.
“So far, our data for Sinamatella shows that the giraffe numbers are holding steady and that there are, in fact, more of them than was previously thought. We will, of course, continue to monitor them,” Bhejane wrote on its Facebook page.
Although Bhejane could not reveal the number of giraffes holding the park, Save Girraffes Now, an organisation which embarked on a project to improve the ability of rangers to protect giraffes and other wildlife within Hwange National Park, said giraffes have declined sharply in Hwange over the past 25 years, from over 14 500 to about 1 600.
“The giraffe have been hit hard by direct poaching as well as by specialized snares by poachers to snag giraffes, leading to a slow and agonizing death. These threats are increasing due to coal mines and their settlements being established around the park,” the organisation’s report read.
” However, the remaining giraffes in Hwange represent 20% of the entire giraffe population in Zimbabwe.
As such, we must act NOW to protect these remaining giraffes, and give them the opportunity to thrive, and repopulate Hwange back to their former levels.”