project updates
Hwange Game Water Supply
April 2010
To date, with the help of funding from the Wilderness Wildlife Trust, Wilderness Safaris Zimbabwe has assisted the National Parks Department with supplying diesel engines and the drilling of 18 boreholes in the south-eastern area of Hwange National Park. Due to further restrictive resources under which National Parks have to operate, the Trust assisted with supplying one Lister engine in 2009 to relieve pressure in vulnerable wildlife areas. This assistance is critical to the consistent running of Hwange National Park.
The windmill installed at Mbiza in 2008 continues to provide a constant supply of water to the animals. Even though the windmill does not pump as much water as a Lister engine, high water levels in the pan were experienced throughout the dry season. Since the installation of the windmill in August 2008 an average of 9 500 litres of water is being pumped a day.
The option of a windmill combined with a diesel engine is currently being investigated; the idea being that for the bulk of the year, water will be pumped by the windmill and when significant wildlife pressure mounts during the dry months (September - November) a diesel engine can be installed to keep up with the high water demand. In this way, diesel usage will be reduced from 11 months to only three months per year, a significant decrease in carbon emissions while still providing essential water to the Park's inhabitants.
September 2008
Mbiza Windmill
It seems as though the windmill at Mbiza is doing its job. Below are the figures showing all the readings since the windmill was installed in August this year. Since August the average cubic metres per day has increased steadily. The pan has not run dry and is supplying the local animal population with a constant supply of water without the help of a pump! This is energy saving and much more environmentally friendly in more and could possibly be the way forward in remote areas.
March 2007 Update
The rainy season of the latter part of 2005 and early 2006 had such good rains that this enabled us to rest the pumps for the first few months of 2006 and allow them a well deserved breather after working almost throughout 2005 to withstand the hardships of a drought earlier that year.
We were able to build new concrete slabs for most of our Lister engines, preparing them for the dry season which lay ahead. Waterholes were teeming with an abundant flow when the engines were switched back on, attracting herds of elephant and buffalo, nonchalant kudu and zebra and encouraged lion to drink their fill at the pans. Some waterholes in our concessions are still reliant on the older Dipco model engines, which are maintained, despite the difficulties of obtaining spare parts for them. We are also experimenting with more energy-efficient windmills. The good rapport between Wilderness Safaris and National Parks and Wildlife Authorities in Hwange National Park allows us to borrow from each other, in order to sustain and conserve our wildlife - together.
April 2006 Update
Written by Shelley Mitchley
HWANGE National Park was scarred by the savage dry season of 2005 and marred by an array of bad press. Zimbabwe's largest and oldest National Park seemed to cower under the pressure of relentless thirst. The average annual rainfall recorded from October 2004 to March 2005 in Wilderness Safaris' Makalolo and Linkwasha concessions was a meagre 346.75 mm. A historical comparison against a previously recorded minimum of 361.8 mm in the 1923/1924 season was proof enough that our beloved National Park would be facing some desperate times. Armed with little less than half of what a typical rainy season would deliver to these parts of Zimbabwe, the season's insubstantial rainfall barely carried forward into the latter part of 2005. Uncertain of what the future held, we watched as vegetation became parched, scorching temperatures climbed to beyond 40 degrees Celsius and lack of natural water sources encouraged disillusioned wildlife to become more reliant on pumped waterholes.
Water is an extremely precious and finite resource in this part of Zimbabwe, due to the fact that there are no surrounding rivers or dams, and water is drawn from underground aquifers, with an average depth of 47.5 metres. Wilderness Safaris pumps and maintains 18 different waterholes within its concessions situated in the south-eastern section of Hwange. In the dry season, from April to November, these diesel-fuelled pumps need to run 24 hours a day in order to meet the demands and keep up with the daily incessant pressure from multitudes of thirsty wildlife. Due to the economic situation in Zimbabwe, diesel fuel is not always readily available and therefore Wilderness Safaris needs to import and store fuel stocks, at an approximate cost of US$1.00 per litre.
On a monthly basis, as much as 5,000 litres of diesel is used on re-fuelling these pumps and the vehicles which carry out pump checks and maintenance. In September and October 2005, there were some very gracious donations from travel companies and patrons to assist in procuring this precious fuel.
The pumped waterholes in the Wilderness Safaris concessions attracted extensive herds of elephant and buffalo, which had travelled from remote and unexposed regions in the Park, where natural waterholes had long since dried out. Some of these dehydrated animals did not survive the perilous journey northwards and sadly collapsed and died before reaching their final destination in the search for water. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game, and so those animals that persisted with their trek literally bombarded their journey's end - full waterholes! Had it not been for these borehole pumps, more animals would have surely died.
The unfortunate but natural aftermath of this pressure on the waterholes was muddy depressions. Animals wandered into these quagmires in an attempt to drink the dregs, and got stuck in muddy bogs, where they would struggle until eventually their strength failed and they would die. However, there were several successful rescues resulting in buffalo, elephant, sable and even giraffe being freed from the clinging tentacles of wet earth. The most victorious rescue for the Wilderness Safaris team was that of a young female giraffe that had gotten stuck in one of the muddy pans. After much sweat and tears and several attempts at trying to pull her out of the mud, there was inevitable success, and the dazed young giraffe got up and stood on her long spindly legs, and to her astonishment discovered a circle of people barricading the sludgy waterhole, waving their hands in the air and shouting at her to move off and away from the place. She galloped across the plains, no doubt relieved to be liberated.
No matter how desperate times were in the dry season of 2005, both pumps and devoted Wilderness Safaris staff seemed to work relentlessly, endeavouring to keep water sources constant for wildlife. Elephants seemed to dominate any water source, often clamping their trunks over the outlet pipes at waterholes in order to drink the water, before it even had the chance of settling in the pan! Quite often, Wilderness Safaris guides had to park their vehicles over the outlet pipes and stand guard, in order for the pans to fill up and hence allow other animals to drink! Swimming pools, raised on decks in camps, were a welcome sustenance to elephants, but being the only ones able to reach into the pools was a heartbreaking sight for sable, zebra and buffalo looking on!
During these times, we were witness to some amazing scenes. An astonishing encounter took place between a herd of sable versus a small herd of elephants that were reluctant to share their pool of water. Reminiscent of two opposing armies, the beasts stood parallel to each other, as gradually the sables inched their way forward. The elephants confidently faced their adversaries until the confrontation resulted in armed combat: trunks and horns lashed and flicked as they ran towards each other and trumpeting filled the air. Eventually, weariness caused a truce and amazingly they decided to stand side by side and share the same waterhole.
We eventually bid farewell to the dry season, as October 2005 ended. Skies heavily pregnant with rain in November promised the delivery of new life - we waited as clouds lingered, lightning crashed impatiently and thunder rumbled overhead. Scorching fingers of wind challenged and fought off drizzles and intermittent showers, typical of inducing a true Zimbabwean rainy season. Finally the heavens broke open, reluctantly at first, and then wholeheartedly. Animals frolicked across the open plains, as though dancing in the rains and shortly afterwards, they started to give birth to their young.
The rainy season of 2005/2006 was nothing short of a blessing - delivering 865mm to the Wilderness Safaris concessions in Hwange. Our beloved Hwange National Park endured the harshest test of time and the pumps can take a well-deserved rest.
September 2005 - The Sable Whistler
Written by Shelley Mitchley
The dry season months of September and October in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park have taken their toll on the arid environment and it isn't surprising to see altered behaviour amongst the wildlife during these harsh times. In Wilderness Safaris' Giraffe Springs concession, (north-west of the Makalolo and Linkwasha concessions), water is a finite and precious resource and, due to the lack of underground water, many of the animals that once graced this semi-desert area have since moved on.
During a particular visit to the old Giraffe Springs camp, a young sable bull was seen hanging around the dried out waterhole in front of camp. On witnessing the sable's predicament, a disregarded clay flowerpot was carried out to the open area in front of camp and filled with bottled water. (This same water had made an arduous three hour journey down a dry and dusty road to Giraffe Springs!)
The splashing of liquid against the terracotta pot suddenly caught the young sable's attention. His enthusiasm was further aroused by the sounds of someone's hand spattering water inside the container and inviting, shrill whistles and it wasn't long before the thirsty sable sauntered over to drink his fill from the flowerpot!
After his first attempt at getting sustenance from a clay pot, the sable visited the front of camp on a regular basis during the days that followed. His ears would prick up and he never failed to react whenever he heard water lapping against clay followed by familiar calls of the Sable Whistler!
Story told by "Sable Whistler", Courteney Johnson
