Poaching incidents

In 2011, nine elephants, five lions and two buffaloes were killed by poachers.

In October 2013 it was discovered that poachers killed a large number of African elephants with cyanide after poisoning their waterhole. Conservationists have claimed the incident to be the largest illegal killing of animals in Southern Africa in 25 years.^{[7][8][9][10]} Two aerial surveys were carried to determine the extent of the deaths, and 19 carcasses were identified in the first survey^[11] and a further 84 carcasses in the second survey.^[12][13] Three of the poachers were caught, arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced. All royal game and elephant poaching offences now have a mandatory 9-year sentence and the supply chain is also targeted.

Cecil and Xanda hunting incidents

On or about 1 July 2015, Cecil, a lion who had lived on Hwange National Park for 13 years, was killed.^[14] This action spurred widespread social media coverage^[15] and a petition calling for Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe to outlaw big game hunting permits.^[16] Walter Palmer, the admitted killer of Cecil, had a permit and was not charged with any crime, as all his papers were in order.^[17] Authorities in Zimbabwe have said he is free to visit the country. Charges were initially laid against Theo Bronkhorst, Palmer's guide, for "failing to stop an illegal hunt" but these were later thrown out of court.^[18]

Two years after Cecil's killing, his son Xanda met a similar fate. Unlike that of his father, Xanda's killing was not termed illegal, though it did provoke outrage.^[19][20][21]

Flora

Game at a pan in a vlei or seasonal wetland

The park is close to the edge of the Kalahari desert, a region with little water and very sparse, xerophile vegetation. The Kalahari woodland is dominated by Zambezi Teak, Sand Camwood (Baphia) and Kalahari bauhinia.^[22] Seasonal wetlands form grasslands in this area.

The north and north-west of the park are dominated by mopane woodland.^[2]

Although it has been argued that elephant populations cause change in vegetation structure,^[23][24] some recent studies suggest that this is not the case, even with the large increases in elephant population recorded in the late 1980s.^[25]

Fauna

Lion resting near a termite mound

The Park hosts over 100 mammal and 400 bird species,^[26] including 19 large herbivores and eight large carnivores. All Zimbabwe's specially protected animals are to be found in Hwange and it is the only protected area where gemsbok and brown hyena occur in small numbers.

Grazing herbivores are more common in the Main Camp Wild Area and Linkwasha Concession Area, with mixed feeders more common in the Robins and Sinamatella Wild Areas, which are more heavily wooded.^[27] Distribution fluctuates seasonally, with large herbivores concentrating in areas where intensive water pumping is maintained during the dry season.^[28]

The population of the Cape wild dogs to be found in Hwange is thought to be of one of the larger surviving groups in Africa today, along with that of Kruger National Park and Selous Game Reserve.^[29][30]

Other major predators include the lion, whose distribution and hunting in Hwange is strongly related to the pans and waterholes.^[31] Since 2005, the protected area is considered a Lion Conservation Unit together with the Okavango Delta.^[32]

African leopard, spotted hyena and cheetah are also present in the protected area.

Elephant at Longone Pan

Elephants have been enormously successful in Hwange and the population has increased to far above that naturally supported by such an area.^[33] This population of elephants has put a lot of strain on the resources of the park. There has been a lot of debate on how to deal with this, with parks authorities implementing culling to reduce populations,^[34] especially during 1967 to 1986. The elephant population doubled in the five years following the end of culling in 1986.^[35]

National Parks Scientific Services co-ordinates two major conservation and research projects in the park:

• National Leopard Project, which is surveying numbers of leopard to obtain base-line data for later comparative analysis with status of leopard in consumptive (hunting) areas and Communal Land bordering the National Park.^[36] This is carried out at Hwange in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation and Research Unit of Oxford University and the Dete Animal Rescue Trust, a registered wildlife conservation Trust
• Painted Dog Project: The project aims to protect and increase the range and numbers of African wild dog both in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa, and operates through the Painted Dog Conservation organisation in Dete.^[37]

Birds

A southern ground hornbill

This overview is only one indication of the diversity of birds in the park and is not a complete list.

Yellow-billed kite[38] Southern ground hornbill[38] Dickinson's kestrel

Racket-tailed roller Martial eagle Kori bustard

Black-winged stilt[38] Cape griffon Pearl-spotted owlet African hobby

Geography and geology

Most of the park is underlain by Kalahari Sands.^[39] In the north-west there are basalt lava flows of the Batoka Formation, stretching from south of Bumbusi to the Botswana border.^[40][41][42] In the north-central area, from Sinamatella going eastwards, there are granites and gneisses of the Kamativi-Dete Inlier^[43] and smaller inliers of these rocks are found within the basalts in the north-west.^[44]

The north and north-west of the park are drained by the Deka and Lukosi rivers and their tributaries, and the far south of the park is drained by the Gwabadzabuya River, a tributary of the Nata River. There are no rivers in the rest of the park, although there are fossil drainage channels in the main camp and Linkwasha areas, which form seasonal wetlands. In these areas without rivers, grassy pan depressions and pans have formed. Some of these pans, such as many of the pans in the Shumba area, fill with rainwater, while others, such as Ngweshla, Shakwanki and Nehimba, are fed by natural groundwater seeps.^[45][46] Many of the pans are additionally supplied by water pumped from underground by park authorities.^[47]

Archaeological, historical and cultural sites

People have lived in the region for tens of thousands of years, as attested by numerous archaeological sites ranging from early Stone Age to the historic era. Stone age foragers hunted and gathered in the region, leaving numerous sites with stone tools throughout today's park. They made engravings of animal hoofprints on sandstone rockshelter walls with some small rock paintings in the park's northwest.^[48] Iron-age people built large and small stone-walling sites in the park, such Mtoa ^[49] and the Bumbusi National Monument.^[2] Information about the people who once lived in today's park is available online.^[50][51]

Places of interest

Map of Hwange National Park

Main camp

Nyamandhlovu Pan, near Main Camp

This is the park headquarters, in the north-east, easily accessible by tarred road from the main Bulawayo–Victoria Falls road.^[26]

Camping and picnic sites

Masuma Dam from the hide in the camp

Shumba Pan from the hide near the camp

In addition, overnight camping is permitted at picnic sites and some of the platforms overlooking waterholes; bookings must be made in advance with the National Parks board. Camping is restricted to one party at a time and during the day, the facilities are open to all visitors. The sites are:

• Nyamandhlovu Platform
• Guvalala Platform
• Kennedy 1 Picnic Site
• Jambile Picnic Site
• Ngweshla Camp
• Shumba Camp
• Masuma Camp, a fully fenced site with two flush toilets, a shower and hide overlooking the dam^[54]
• Mandavu Dam
• Deteema Dam hide^[26]