Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust (WHWT) in conjunction with the Oxford Wildlife Conservation Unit (WildCru) based in Hwange National Park, Main Camp with be liaising on a project together with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) and the local rural community near Victoria Falls.  The first phase of the project will be a survey in the rural community in which a local researcher will be evaluating all human wildlife conflict incidents.  A response unit will also be established for human-predator conflicts in which the research team working together with ZPWMA will respond to quantify any damage as well as to evaluate any mitigation techniques used to deter the animal.

A major component of this program will involve hosting groups of school children at the Wild Horizons Wildlife Orphanage and Sanctuary for a day of conservation awareness and interaction.  Every week throughout the school year WHWT together with Environment Africa will host a group of school children from the area to learn about wildlife and interact with some of the orphaned animals that WHWT currently looks after.  Each school will be given training manuals for the teacher’s to use in the classroom which promotes wildlife conservation of a range of academic subjects for various ages.  It is the aim of this conservation program to decrease the number of animals being poached, as well as to help children correctly identify wildlife species and to see the benefit of wildlife economically.   

A goal of this project is to determine the number of human-wildlife conflict incidents, species causing the conflicts, and to be able to quantify the amount of damage or impact caused from the conflicts.  Prey and predator densities will also be evaluated in the area.   From this data Phase two of the project will then be to implement mitigation solutions depending on the cause of the conflicts.  There are a range of options available from the use of chili and/or bees as a deterrent for elephant, to predator safe boma designs for protection of livestock. 

Lion Eating a Cow
Photo by Brent Staplekamp

 

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