Wildlife Research

Wildlife Research projects are designed for the Wild Horizons Trust to find sustainable ways to protect wildlife such as the elephants. These projects incorporate ways of releasing animals and finding solutions to the human wildlife conflicts that develop in the community.  

 

 

 
 
Human-Predator Conflict

For a farmer in rural Zimbabwe, predators are a major source of contention. One lion or hyena can wreck havoc with a family's entire livelihood in one night. WHWT working together with ZPWMA and Oxford WildCru Lion Research are undertakng a survey and project to determine just how much human wildlife conflict is occuring in the Hwange Rural District, and to respond to the community for predator conflict incidents. For more information on this project please click here.
Rhino Genetics

In an effort to make a difference in the conservation of black and white rhino in Zimbabwe, we have undertaken a project which analyzes the genetics of each animal remaining in National Parks within Zimbabwe. We took samples from every animal and then have had a look at the DNA to see which animals are related, and we now also have the DNA on file should any of those animals be poached. Conservation is improving its efforts and using new technologies to make a bigger impact. For more information on this project please click here.
Hwange Wildlife Collaring

Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust is very excited to be involved in a mass wildlife collaring project in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.  The project is being coordinated by Dr. Herve Fritz who is attached to Lyon University and the CNRS (Centre Nationale Recherche Scientifique). The main aim of this project is to look at the relationships between prey and predators and to see how the spatial distribution of the different animals depends on each other.  Mr. Roger Parry and Mrs. Jessica Dawson of the Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust will be taking in a team of pre-veterinary field assistants to participate with darting and collaring of the animals. More

Chili Pepper as Elephant Deterrent
The residents in and around Victoria Falls are used to seeing elephant in town throughout the yea rr. However, this year the sheer number of elephant that are coming into the high density areas and some of the rural areas around town is unprecedented. Unfortunately, the elephant are not moving away from the town when normal techniques are employed to try and scare the elephant away. In an effort to try and move the elephant away from human settlements before either a person or elephant gets hurt or killed, WHWT is working together with National Parks using chili pepper guns to move the elephant. Click here to read more!