The recent tragic deaths of over a hundred elephants in Zimbabwe’s largest national park have been highlighted by wildlife experts and conservation groups as a bracing reminder of the consequences of global warming and El Nino.
Hwange National Park and the entirety of southern Africa are preparing for hot weather and less precipitation, prompting authorities to issue a death threat warning. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, many animals, including elephants, are in danger.
Tinashe Farawo, a Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority representative, said that the situation has worsened due to climate change and El Nino.
El Nino, a natural phenomenon that has warmed up portions of the Pacific, has thrown weather systems all across the globe into a loop. Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, is predicted to see below-average rainfall due to this year’s El Nino, resulting in higher temperatures and a water shortage.
Even though the rainy season started in Zimbabwe a few weeks later than usual, that has already had an impact. Even though it has started to rain, most meteorologists predict a dry and hot summer.
The 2019 drought that killed over 200 elephants in Hwange National Park is something officials are worried may reoccur.
A video depicting a juvenile elephant fighting for its life after being caught in the muck in a water hole partially dried up in Hwange was released on social networking site X by the parks department spokeswoman Farawo.
To ensure the elephant corpses’ safety and deter poachers, park guards remove the tusks from deceased animals.
In addition to 45,000 elephants, over 100 species of mammals and 400 kinds of birds call Hwange their home.
According to him, each day, Farrawo’s group pumps 1.5 million liters of water into the waterholes of Hwange National Park from more than 50 boreholes that it shares with the parks department. There isn’t a big river cutting through the 5,600-square-mile park, so the animals get their water from a little over a hundred solar-powered boreholes.
The environmentalists’ stated goal of rescuing elephants is much more than that. Because their feces carry plant seeds, they help spread flora across great distances, allowing forests to grow, recover, and thrive, making them an essential ally in the battle against climate change via the environment. Trees remove carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to global warming, from the air.
The circle of life.
