Current:Home > NewsAt least 100 elephants die in drought-stricken Zimbabwe park, a grim sign of El Nino, climate change-InfoLens
At least 100 elephants die in drought-stricken Zimbabwe park, a grim sign of El Nino, climate change
View Date:2024-12-23 19:55:00
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — At least 100 elephants have died in Zimbabwe’s largest national park in recent weeks because of drought, their carcasses a grisly sign of what wildlife authorities and conservation groups say is the impact of climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Authorities warn that more could die as forecasts suggest a scarcity of rains and rising heat in parts of the southern African nation including Hwange National Park. The International Fund for Animal Welfare has described it as a crisis for elephants and other animals.
“El Nino is making an already dire situation worse,” said Tinashe Farawo, spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
El Nino is a natural and recurring weather phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific, affecting weather patterns around the world. While this year’s El Nino brought deadly floods to East Africa recently, it is expected to cause below-average rainfall across southern Africa.
That has already been felt in Zimbabwe, where the rainy season began weeks later than usual. While some rain has now fallen, the forecasts are generally for a dry, hot summer ahead.
Studies indicate that climate change may be making El Ninos stronger, leading to more extreme consequences.
Authorities fear a repeat of 2019, when more than 200 elephants in Hwange died in a severe drought.
“This phenomenon is recurring,” said Phillip Kuvawoga, a landscape program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which raised the alarm for Hwange’s elephants in a report this month.
Parks agency spokesperson Farawo posted a video on social media site X, formerly Twitter, showing a young elephant struggling for its life after becoming stuck in mud in a water hole that had partly dried up in Hwange.
“The most affected elephants are the young, elderly and sick that can’t travel long distances to find water,” Farawo said. He said an average-sized elephant needs a daily water intake of about 200 liters (52 gallons) .
Park rangers remove the tusks from dead elephants where they can for safekeeping and so the carcasses don’t attract poachers.
Hwange is home to around 45,000 elephants along with more than 100 other mammal species and 400 bird species.
Zimbabwe’s rainy season once started reliably in October and ran through to March. It has become erratic in recent years and conservationists have noticed longer, more severe dry spells.
“Our region will have significantly less rainfall, so the dry spell could return soon because of El Nino,” said Trevor Lane, director of The Bhejane Trust, a conservation group which assists Zimbabwe’s parks agency.
He said his organization has been pumping 1.5 million liters of water into Hwange’s waterholes daily from over 50 boreholes it manages in partnership with the parks agency. The 14,500-square-kilometer (5,600-square-mile) park, which doesn’t have a major river flowing through it, has just over 100 solar-powered boreholes that pump water for the animals.
Saving elephants is not just for the animals’ sake, conservationists say. They are a key ally in fighting climate change through the ecosystem by dispersing vegetation over long distances through dung that contains plant seeds, enabling forests to spread, regenerate and flourish. Trees suck planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
“They perform a far bigger role than humans in reforestation,” Lane said. “That is one of the reasons we fight to keep elephants alive.”
___
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
veryGood! (537)
Related
- Lane Kiffin puts heat on CFP bracket after Ole Miss pounds Georgia. So, who's left out?
- New Zealand’s ex-Premier Jacinda Ardern will join conservation group to rally for environment action
- Tyson recalls 30,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers report finding metal pieces
- Florida's uneasy future with Billy Napier puts them at the top of the Week 10 Misery Index
- Kirk Herbstreit berates LSU fans throwing trash vs Alabama: 'Enough is enough, clowns'
- Summer House's Paige DeSorbo Strips Down to $5,600 Crystal Panties at BravoCon Red Carpet
- 4 men charged in theft of golden toilet from Churchill’s birthplace. It’s an artwork titled America
- NBA highest-paid players in 2023-24: Who is No. 1 among LeBron, Giannis, Embiid, Steph?
- 15 new movies you'll want to stream this holiday season, from 'Emilia Perez' to 'Maria'
- Climate activists smash glass protecting Velazquez’s Venus painting in London’s National Gallery
Ranking
- She's a trans actress and 'a warrior.' Now, this 'Emilia Pérez' star could make history.
- Kyle Richards Breaks Down in Tears While Addressing Mauricio Umansky Breakup
- 'It's freedom': Cher on singing, her mother and her first holiday album, 'Christmas'
- Ariana Madix reacts to ex Tom Sandoval getting booed at BravoCon: 'It's to be expected'
- More than 150 pronghorns hit, killed on Colorado roads as animals sought shelter from snow
- Italy grants citizenship to terminally ill British baby after Vatican hospital offers care.
- Ukraine says 19 troops killed by missile at an awards ceremony. Zelenskyy calls it avoidable tragedy
- 32 things we learned in NFL Week 9: Not your average QB matchups
Recommendation
-
Olivia Munn began randomly drug testing John Mulaney during her first pregnancy
-
Police say a gunman fired 22 shots into a Cincinnati crowd, killing a boy and wounding 5 others
-
Bills' Damar Hamlin launches scholarship honoring medical team that saved his life
-
Michigan mayoral races could affect Democrats’ control of state government
-
Watch as massive amount of crabs scamper across Australian island: 'It's quite weird'
-
Car crashes into pub’s outdoor dining area in Australia, killing 5 and injuring 6
-
Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Missy Elliott inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
-
Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs didn't know most of his teammates' names. He led them to a win.