In
the
sun-scorched
lands
bordering
Zimbabwe’s
largest
wildlife
sanctuary,
Takesure
Moyo
pedals
through
his
village
each
morning
on
a
mission
to
help
his
community
coexist
with
the
elephants
and
predators
that
roam
nearby.
The
49-year-old
is
among
several
locals
trained
as
community
monitors
under
an
initiative
by
the
International
Fund
for
Animal
Welfare
(IFAW)
and
Zimbabwe’s
National
Parks
and
Wildlife
Authority
(Zimparks).
Equipped
with
a
mobile
phone,
he
uses
an
app
to
log
sightings,
spoor
and
incidents
—
data
that
enables
authorities
to
respond
swiftly
and
issue
alerts
to
prevent
potential
confrontation
with
dangerous
animals,
including
ones
straying
from
the
nearby
Hwange
National
Park.
“We
have
always
lived
with
wild
animals
around
us,
but
our
responses
to
human-wildlife
conflict
were
rather
individual
and
uncoordinated,”
Moyo,
speaking
in
vernacular
Ndebele,
told
AFP.
“The
initiative
has
helped
the
community
become
more
knowledgeable
about
animal
behaviour
and
ultimately
minimise
conflict.”
Wild
animals
have
killed
around
300
people
in
Zimbabwe
over
the
past
five
years,
according
to
Zimparks,
with
crops
and
livestock
also
suffering
heavy
losses.
Nearly
70
percent
of
reported
incidents
occur
in
communities
bordering
national
parks
such
as
Hwange,
it
says.
A
few
years
ago,
Moyo
lost
six
cattle
to
lions.
It
prompted
him
to
become
involved
in
the
project
to
protect
his
community.
Equipped
with
a
bicycle
provided
by
IFAW,
he
patrols
the
area
around
his
village
daily,
sending
updates
to
Zimparks
with
a
focus
on
“problem
animals”
like
elephants
and
lions.
His
input
complements
data
received
by
satellite
from
GPS
collars
fitted
to
16
elephants
in
the
area,
both
feeding
a
mobile
application
called
EarthRanger
that
allows
real-time
monitoring
and
rapid
response.
–
Swift
reaction
–
Zimbabwe
is
home
to
nearly
100,000
elephants,
the
world’s
second-largest
population
of
savannah
elephants
after
neighbouring
Botswana,
according
to
a
2022
aerial
survey
conducted
under
the
Kavango
Zambezi
Transfrontier
Conservation
Area.
“During
the
dry
season,
elephants
sometimes
come
for
water
at
the
nearby
dam,
which
is
the
source
of
water
for
our
communal
gardens,”
Moyo
said.
“And
during
the
cropping
season,
they
can
come
to
eat
our
crops.”
The
EarthRanger
app
—
used
in
80
countries,
according
to
its
developers
—
is
“highly
effective,”
Zimparks
acting
public
relations
manager,
Tamirirashe
Mudzingwa,
told
AFP.
As
a
live
early
warning
system,
it
gives
communities
time
to
protect
themselves,
their
livestock
and
property
from
approaching
wildlife,
he
said.
A
separate
project
collects
data
from
collars
fitted
to
some
elephants
that
have
been
rescued,
rehabilitated
and
reintroduced
to
free-roaming
herds
by
the
Wild
Is
Life
organisation.
At
a
monitoring
centre,
technical
officer
Simbarashe
Mupanhwa
pointed
to
multi-coloured
lines
on
his
computer
screen
that
tracked
the
movements
of
Samson,
a
seven-year-old
elephant
back
in
the
bush
after
being
saved
when
he
was
abandoned
at
birth.
“Other
than
helping
monitor
the
elephants’
movements,
the
application
is
also
able
to
track
the
organisation’s
rangers
and
vehicles,
helping
ensure
that
if
there
are
any
incidents
of
poaching,
reaction
is
as
swift
as
possible,”
Mupanhwa
told
AFP.
–
Growing
elephant
population
–
The
satellite
telemetry
“offers
critical
spatial
insights
into
habitat
use,
movement
patterns,
and
the
identification
of
frequently
utilised
areas,
including
ecological
corridors
and
dispersal
zones,”
said
Phillip
Kuvawoga,
IFAW’s
conservation
senior
director.
Community-based
conservation
has
become
a
common
ground
for
IFAW
and
Zimparks,
which
have
different
philosophies
over
Zimbabwe’s
ballooning
elephant
population.
The
government
argues
the
country
cannot
sustain
so
many
of
the
animals
and
has
lobbied
for
the
lifting
of
a
global
ban
on
the
trade
in
tusks,
saying
its
ivory
stockpile
is
worth
millions
of
dollars
that
could
be
used
to
bolster
ranger
welfare
and
conservation.
Zimparks,
a
government
agency,
supports
“consumptive
tourism”
such
as
safari
hunting,
including
of
elephants,
while
IFAW
promotes
photographic
safaris.
“The
collaboration
embodies
a
pragmatic
agreement:
conservation
efforts
must
be
inclusive,
science-based,
and
adaptable,”
said
Alleta
Nyahuye,
country
director
of
IFAW,
which
flags
as
its
mission
the
ideal
of
“helping
animals
and
people
to
thrive
together”.
In
villages
like
Moyo’s,
the
impact
is
tangible.
“It’s
not
just
about
protecting
animals,”
Moyo
said.
“It’s
about
protecting
our
way
of
life,
too.”
AFP
Source:
Tech
tracking
to
tackle
human-wildlife
conflict
in
Zimbabwe
–
Technology
Khabar