A HERD of elephants hobbles
past a cluster of acacia trees to a water-hole deep in Zimbabwe's vast Hwange
game reserve, attracted by the drone of generators pumping water round the
clock into the pool.
With the elephant population
ballooning, wildlife authorities have resorted to using 45 generators, each
consuming 200 litres of diesel a week from June to November, to ensure the
animals can get water.
The strategy appears to be
working. So far this year 17 elephants have died in the area due to the extreme
heat and lack of water, compared with 77 last year.
"The elephants drink
close to 90 per cent of all the water (pumped) here," said Edwin Makuwe,
an ecologist with the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority,
"I think elephants now
know that when they hear an engine running, chances are that there is water
close by."
But the water, while
life-preserving, might be running against the flow of nature.
Continued: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/zimbabwe-weighs-cost-of-too-many-elephants/story-e6frg6so-1226503295716
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