As the concessionaire of a large area in south-eastern Hwange National Park, Wilderness Safaris has taken responsibility for many aspects of the management of this 100 000ha area.
During the dry season, water sources become scarce and Hwange has some 57 boreholes to pump water from deep underground to sustain the wildlife in the area. Wilderness Safaris has drilled and supplied engines, piping and the pumps on 18 of the 57 operational boreholes in the entire Park. Since February 2002, we have taken on responsibility for pumping 22 boreholes 24 hours a day, thereby supporting the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management both logistically and financially. This includes daily refuelling and maintenance and a full oil and filter change every 250 hours!
For updates on the Hwange Water Supply project, see the Trust website here.
We have also joined the National Park in jointly combating the effects of poaching along the Park's southern boundary, an area beyond our concession. Along the reserve boundary itself and also in the community areas beyond it, a large variety of mammal species fall victim to snaring, with larger species such as elephant and buffalo breaking free of their wire nooses and heading back to the refuge of the Park. Wilderness Safaris and the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust provide funding and logistical support in the form of transport, fuel and rations to the anti-poaching units of the National Park.
For updates on the Hwange Anti-Poaching project, see the Trust website here.
Even white rhino appear to be increasing and in order to bolster and ensure this trend another joint project between Wilderness Safaris, the Zimbabwe Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management and the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust successfully translocated a substantial breeding nucleus of the species into this area of Hwange. The first five animals arrived in July 2007 and were temporarily held in bomas before being released into the wild.
Read more: Hwange White Rhino Reintroduction Project
Research on this threatened species as well as lion and wild dog is supported by our staff in the area, both in terms of logistical support of the researchers themselves and also observations and monitoring conducted while on game drive. In the case of the lion study the long-term effects of sport hunting on the species have been examined by a team from Oxford with the result being a significant reduction by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management of the number of lions on quota for sport hunting on lands lying along Hwange's boundaries.
Near Hwange National Park lies a little school that caters for a number of children from surrounding villages. The area suffers from poverty and lack of amenities and Ngamo School is no exception. Linkwasha, the nearest Wilderness camp, has begun to help by providing some basic equipment as well as taking guests to visit - to get a glimpse of another, poorer world.
Read more: Hwange National Park - Ngamo School
Future plans for community involvement in Zimbabwe include the establishment of annual Children in the Wilderness camps and a comprehensive follow-up programme.
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