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Hwange National Park
Hwange National ParkHwange, one of the world's last great Elephant sanctuaries, is the largest national park in Zimbabwe
It is situated in the south west of Zimbabwe between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. There are two distinct geographic zones, neither are able to support viable agriculture. The flora of the well drained northern area, part of the Zambezi watershed, is dominated by mopane and mixed terminalia, which is distinctly different from the rest.
Elsewhere the Kalahari scrublands, covered with stunted, scattered woodlands of teak and umtshibi trees, drain into Botswana's Magadkadi Depression. This habitat is characterised by marshy depressions, vleis and fragile open grasslands on shallow soils. In the nineteen century this land was the royal hunting reserve of Mzilikazi and his successor Lobengula. But the arrival of the first white hunters and settlers signalled the slaughter of its wildlife by the thousands. As their blood soaked deep into the sparse soils, it left empty, useless wasteland, denuded of wildlife, unfit for farming.
Because his herds were constantly under attack by lion and leopard, Robins turned the ranch into a wildlife preserve. Later in exchange for a new house and a water supply he gave the sanctuary to the government. When founding member Ted Davidson walked across virtually every square kilometre in 1928-29 he discovered the wildlife was almost non existent. The once teeming herds of elephant numbered fewer than 1000 and the rhinoceros, both black and white had been exterminated. Anyway, the poorly drained Kalahari sands, with their relatively low rainfall, were unable to support permanent large wildlife populations. The seasonal pans and fossil river lines held water all too briefly after the rains, and only occasionally did any large numbers migrate into the region. Davidson perceived that the water was the critical key and in the years that followed he drilled boreholes to create sixty new pans, linked to the seasonal pans that already existed. slowly the animals particularly the elephant and buffalo, began to move back.
Close to half a century later, Hwange national park faced another, different crisis - too many elephant. Their numbers had risen to more than 20 000 and in their wake the massive beasts left fallen trees and fragile, over grazed grasslands. Hwange's existence was threatened. Wildlife authorities intervened, culling at least 5000 elephant to bring the population down to between 12 000 and 15 000. The maximum that Hwange national park can support without damage. Today, in 2010, the numbers have again grown considerably and it is now estimated that the elephant population is somewhere between 30 000 to 40 000 animals. This is critical and damage to the environment is certain, it remains to be seen what the Zimbabwe National Parks does to alleviate this inevitable problem. Water remains the single most important management factor in Hwange's continued existence - absolutely vital to the survival of what is perhaps Africa's single largest concentration of elephant. The constant maintenance of the artificial but natural looking water pans, complete with resident hippo's and crocodile, has been a major factor sustaining this ecological treasury. Without them Hwange national park would return to the empty wasteland it once was, animals would die in their thousands. Government funding has long since run out for this maintenance and the onus has now fallen upon a few individual organisations, like "Friends of Hwange" and "Save Hwange" who's efforts are to be highly commended.
This map is available for download by simply clicking on the map. All we ask is that you Please Help to Raise Funds for Hwange National Park by making a donation through the Paypal button below. All funds go directly to the park.
Add Your Story about Hwange National Park.Have you been there? What did you see? Are you involved in a conservation project there? Have you been on a game count? Anything about this magnificent park... Please Share it! What Other Visitors Have SaidClick on the links below to see contributions from other visitors to this page. You can also comment and rate them... Accommodation in Hwange National Park We are looking for one night accommodation in Hwange National Park. We will make this stop coming from Vic Falls and going further down to Bulawayo. We ... HWANGE – JANUARY 2012 We have just been up to the Park to participate in part of the African Waterfowl Count which is conducted Africa-wide during January and again in July.... Hwange Crisis Reports coming out of Hwange National Park are fairly dismal right now. Teams who took part in the recent annual game count mostly reported pans in a ... HWANGE NATIONAL PARK REPORT – OCTOBER 2011 (Part 2) We then moved on to Sinamatella and stayed two nights. Warden Gomwe is doing a sterling job there and is keeping his camp ship shape. Most of the lodges ... HWANGE NATIONAL PARK REPORT – OCTOBER 2011 (Part1) The annual 24 hour static game count took place over the night of Tuesday 11 October, into Wednesday 12 October. A great deal of time and effort goes ... Hwange National Park Update August 2011 As drilling of the second borehole at Kennedy Two was about to begin over the weekend of 19th to 21st August, I took the opportunity of going back up to ... Zimbabwe National Parks have a contact with poachers in Hwange Zimbabwe’s Department for National Parks and Wildlife Anti poaching team have once again come up trumps. They tracked and located a team of poachers near ...
HWANGE: News and Advice
Just returned from 9 days in Hwange. Here are a few pointers that may be of assistance to anyone heading there soon. Sikumi Tree Lodge - under new managers Sikumi Tree Lodge is a well known name in Zimbabwean tourism circles. Part of the Touch the Wild group, the lodge has been operating on its private estate ... Hwange National Park Report. While we apologise for not being in touch since the game count in September last year, it is not from lack of interest that no reports have been made – we ... Hwange Misses Out on World Cup Tourism It’s a long and arduous car journey from Pietermaritzburg in South Africa to Hwange National Park in south West Zimbabwe, probably 21 hours total driving ...
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