Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 22 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

I’ve had a few requests recently for a blog on the issue of wildlife conservation and the poaching problem in Zimbabwe in general.  This is a really important topic, and I will try to devote more time to it in future.  For now - here is a summary of some of the problems facing the wildlife in the Save Valley Conservancy and Zimbabwe in general…

Poaching for meat in Zimbabwe represents a severe threat to wildlife populations throughout the country. The collapse of the economy, high levels of unemployment and food shortages mean that there is a huge demand for meat, and large numbers of unoccupied young men ready to exploit the opportunity to make some money and food through poaching. The land reform programme, settling thousands of small scale farmers on former game ranchland also contributed greatly to the levels of poaching.

On most game ranches that were occupied by small scale farmers following the land reform programme, wildlife has been completely eradicated. Most poaching for bush-meat is done with wire snares, which are particularly undesirable from an ecological perspective. Snares can result in the removal of large numbers of animals quickly, and can deplete wildlife populations severely within weeks if allowed to proceed unchecked. Snares are unselective, and kill a wide range of mammals, including animals not specifically targeted by poachers, such as wild dogs and lions.

A wild dog killed by a snare

Snares are hard to find and thus hard to control. Snares are wasteful – poachers often set them and then fail to check them, resulting in the death of animals which end up just rotting in the bush. Finally, snares are inhumane. Animals are caught in snares when they put their head, or a limb through the wire noose, which then pulls tight as the animal attempts to escape. The animal then dies through asphyxiation or through dehydration. In many cases, animals manage to break the snares, leaving them to walk around with a cutting ligature on a limb, or dragging a broken branch to which the snare was attached.

A lion caught in a snare - an unnecessary waste

In the south east Lowveld, our study area, wild meat poaching has resulted in dramatic declines in wildlife populations over the last few years. In Save Conservancy, our focal study area, almost 30,000 snares have been removed by anti poaching game scouts in the last 2.5 years. Unsurprisingly, in the parts of the conservancy worst affected by poaching, wildlife populations are declining sharply.

So what can be done to address the bush-meat trade? Poaching is always likely to be a problem in the current economic environment, where poverty is extreme, employment opportunities are few and food is short. Preventing poaching will be impossible unless there is an improvement in the political and economic situation. However, in the meantime, several steps can be taken. Firstly, there is a need to realign land uses where people have been settled in wildlife areas, and to provide a degree of separation from agriculture and wildlife. Where people live in wildlife areas, protecting wildlife is very difficult – as is protecting crops from damage by wildlife. Secondly, there needs to be a major effort to provide financial stake-holdings in wildlife ventures for communities, so that they gain benefits from wildlife which act as incentives for them not to hunt. Thirdly, there is a need for improved anti poaching security – and a change in the penal system to provide greater protection for wildlife. At present, the fines for poaching are less than the money that can be gained from killed one impala.

The 1990s was a period of unparalleled recovery and expansion of wildlife populations in Zimbabwe. The 2000s have been a period of unparalleled decline, driven by large scale bush-meat poaching. We need to do everything we can to reverse the current trend and get Zimbabwe’s wildlife - one of its greatest assets - on the increase again.

Rosemary

Tags: bushmeat, conservation, poaching, snaring, wildlife extinction, zimbabwe