Current:Home > MyEthermac|At least 100 elephant deaths in Zimbabwe national park blamed on drought, climate change -Excel Wealth Summit
Ethermac|At least 100 elephant deaths in Zimbabwe national park blamed on drought, climate change
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 04:01:09
At least 100 elephants have Ethermacdied 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 52 gallons. Farawo shared other images that showed a female elephant stuck in the mud and another found dead in a shallow watering hole.
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 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."
- In:
- Weather Forecast
- Climate Change
- Zimbabwe
veryGood! (4192)
Related
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Poliovirus detected in more wastewater near New York City
- Amputation in a 31,000-year-old skeleton may be a sign of prehistoric medical advances
- Family of woman shot through door in Florida calls for arrest
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Science Teachers Respond to Climate Materials Sent by Heartland Institute
- Today’s Climate: May 22-23, 2010
- Despite its innocently furry appearance, the puss caterpillar's sting is brutal
- Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
- Family of woman shot through door in Florida calls for arrest
Ranking
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Ed Sheeran Wins in Copyright Trial Over Thinking Out Loud
- Bama Rush Documentary Trailer Showcases Sorority Culture Like Never Before
- The crisis in Jackson shows how climate change is threatening water supplies
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- 988: An Alternative To 911 For Mental Health
- Kate Middleton Rules With Her Fabulous White Dress Ahead of King Charles III's Coronation
- Volkswagen relaunches microbus as electric ID. Buzz
Recommendation
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Kate Middleton Rules With Her Fabulous White Dress Ahead of King Charles III's Coronation
Today’s Climate: June 1, 2010
Shoppers Praise This NuFACE Device for Making Them Look 10 Years Younger: Don’t Miss This 67% Discount
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Portland police deny online rumors linking six deaths to serial killer
Today’s Climate: May 24, 2010
Today’s Climate: May 24, 2010