More Than 50 Elephants Have Starved To Death In A Serious Drought In Zimbabwe

At least 55 elephants are said to have died in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park due to a severe drought.

The drought drained water sources and massively reduced crop levels in Zimbabwe's largest national park, leaving the huge number of elephants to die over a two month period while on a desperate hunt for food.

Tragically, some elephants were found as close as 50 metres from water pans, meaning they died just moments before reaching one.

Other animals have also been severely affected by the drought, with the wildlife agency being forced to dig wells 400 metres deep into the ground to find them water.

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However, they are lacking the money to continue if the crisis continues.

Tinashe Farawo, a spokesperson for the WildLife Management Authority described the situation as "dire".

He told how some elephants were dying of starvation while desperately on the hunt for food and water, while others were killed as overcrowding took them into local communities.

The park can handle 15,000 elephants but currently has more like 53,000.

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"The single biggest threat to our animals now is loss of habitat," The Guardian report Farawo said. "We have managed to significantly reduce poaching... we were losing hundreds of elephants in past years, but last year we only lost not more than 20 to poaching."

Due to the rapidly reducing space, the elephants regularly wander into human habitats, where they destroy crops and even kill people, he added. It comes after over twenty people have been killed by animals in the country since the start of this year.

The problem doesn't stop at elephants either. Far from it. Climate change is ravaging the natural environments of both humans and animals across Africa, and we need to wake up.

Not only that, the drought has reportedly left a third of Zimbabwe's population in need of food aid, with the World Food Programme reporting that two million people were also at risk of starvation in August.

The El-Nino drought lasted between last October and May and left Zimbabwe devastated in its wake.

If you want to help, you can donate to African Wildlife Foundation here.

They work hard to protect habitats across Africa through community driven conservation efforts. Plus, they are working to introduce local communities to climate smart agriculture and empower communities to secure their water sources.

Topics: Environment, Life News, climate change, elephants, Animals

Joanna Freedman

Joanna is a journalist at Tyla with a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches, too. Contact her at [email protected].

@joannafreedman