2021 Annual Report from Nick Murray, President

We are celebrating 5 years of wildlife conservation and are proud to share 2021 highlights and accomplishments. Most of our work is conducted through grants we make to Bushlife Support Unit Trust (BSU), a Zimbabwean nonprofit trust. Thanks to the loyal support of our donors, we continued our success protecting wildlife and the habitat of Mana Pools and the surrounding Lower Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe.

No elephants have been poached in Mana Pools since 2019!

Game Capture, Translocation, and Collaring

group of elephants

Zebras captured for relocation due to their crop raiding

There were many human­wildlife conflict (HWC) events to be managed around Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas World Heritage Site. For example, January began with the capture and translocation of 4 zebras from Mhangura, a farming area in northern Zimbabwe, to Lake Chivero National Park. This was necessary because these animals were eating the farmers’ crops.

In early May, Zimparks and BSU conducted a major operation collaring 11 elephants. We collared 5 in the Hurungwe Safari area, 5 in the Chewore Safari Area, and 1 in the southern mountains of Mana Pools, where we expect to see crop raiding this coming rainy season. Most were tusked and tuskless females, and a couple were young bulls. In addition to providing an early warning for possible human­elephant conflict, collars support research that includes monitoring the differences in elephant movements and the size of their home ranges in hunting areas compared to non­hunting areas.

Keeping an elephant cool during collaring event

Keeping an elephant cool during collaring event

Leopard captured in the community and relocated

Leopard captured in the community and relocated

During the safari season, BSU removed three collars (2 lions and a hyena) that were no longer working and replaced one collar on a lioness at Chitake. Guests at Vundu Camp were with the team, so they had the opportunity to get up close and personal to these beautiful wild animals.

Also during the year, BSU removed a snare from the neck of a 2­year­old male lion along the Rukomechi River in Mana and provided medical treatment to the young lion due to cuts around the neck from the snare. The snare was very unusual to see, as we very seldom experience snaring in northern Mana Pools.

We treated a big elephant bull near Zavaru that had a huge septic wound on his front right leg and was unable to walk 100m a day. After we treated the wound, we injected him with a significant amount of antibiotics required for an elephant. He fully recovered from his injury.

In addition, BSU was asked by Zimparks to manage additional HWC in communities surrounding Mana Pools, Sapi, and Chewore. Nkululeko “Freedom” Hlongwane, BSU operations manager, tracked down and had to euthanize 2 of these animals, including a crocodile that had eaten two women doing laundry at an inland dam and a lion that had killed two people and approximately 70 cows over a 4­year period. Freedom spent 3 weeks attempting to capture the lion for translocation.

Anti-poaching Patrols

We funded the purchase of two vehicles to add to the BSU fleet. BSU now has ten Land Cruisers doing anti­poaching patrols and research work, and two other vehicles allocated to Zimparks investigation officers in Chirundu and Kariba. BSU staff now includes nine drivers and seven scouts, all managed by Freedom. Bigboy, the resident mechanic, and Bigdaddy, the freelance mechanic, have their hands full maintaining the vehicles. Andrew, who is indispensable as the procurement officer in Harare, purchases everything needed for operations in the Zambezi Valley. My wife, Desiree, oversees all BSU operations when I am guiding guests in the safari season at Vundu.

Our anti­poaching patrols were non­stop in 2021. Thanks to BC funding, BSU drivers and vehicles tirelessly provided transportation and support to deploy Zimpark rangers throughout the Zambezi Valley. Mana is home base, but we are funding BSU work in the surrounding areas, from Rifa in the Hurungwe Safari Area in the west to Dande in the east.

The Zamberi River Vallery
Map
BSU drivers and vehicles are on average deploying thirty Zimparks rangers daily in different areas of the lower Zambezi Valley. The map below shows the locations where we have funded the establishment of tented camps to operate as picket bases (small units that guard park boundaries), including Kanga, Mazunga, Chitangazuva, and Mana East. BSU also has vehicles at Zavaru, Marongora, and Vundu.
We have been working with Project Ranger, a Great Plains Conservation initiative, to man the Mana East base with three scouts, an armed Zimparks ranger, and a vehicle, driver, and supplies. Patrols have covered the Mana East area and the Sapi Safari Area in conjunction with the Zimparks rangers based in Sapi. This change increased the ground coverage of BSU by another 1000km2 .
Mana East Base

Mana East Base

Chitangazuva Base

With funding from the Holzman Wildlife Foundation, we made a grant to BSU to begin building a permanent base on the southern boundary of Mana Pools, immediately adjacent to the local communities near the border of the national park. BSU enlisted local villagers to participate in the building process by purchasing bricks from farmers, hiring transport vehicles for sand and bricks, and hiring local labor and skilled builders to construct the base. The Holzman Wildlife Foundation has a particular interest in wild dogs, and on 7 December the team sighted a pack of 4 that came past the base. This is the second time they have seen this pack. This area is very rugged with deep valleys and rolling rocky hills. Typically, there is not a lot of prey; however, there is enough food to support this pack.

This permanent base provides a platform to operate patrols along the park boundary. From here we can also attend to the numerous HWC issues in the communities outside the park. Addressing HWC is a constant job. Hyenas have become a big problem along the boundary, and we are unsure as to why this is the case. A possible reason is that due to wildlife poaching along the boundary, game is scarce, and the hyenas are reverting to stock killing. It is also possible that the past levels of elephant poaching and resultant carcasses that supported the hyena population are no longer available due to successful anti­poaching patrols. Either way, HWC is an issue we are facing and must address.

Base under construction at southern border of Mana Pools

Base under construction at southern border of Mana Pools

Borehole Drilling

Borehole Drilling

BSU is working with DanChurchAid on a project of community development and conservation awareness. The project started in October 2021, and by year­end, five boreholes had been drilled in areas adjacent to the park where water security for people is an issue. The next project is to begin a market garden farming area to grow vegetables needed by rangers in the Zambezi Valley. This food source will supplement their diets. Additionally, this may be offered to safari camps when the safari season starts in 2022.
BSU is working with DanChurchAid on a project of community development and conservation awareness. The project started in October 2021, and by year­end, five boreholes had been drilled in areas adjacent to the park where water security for people is an issue. The next project is to begin a market garden farming area to grow vegetables needed by rangers in the Zambezi Valley. This food source will supplement their diets. Additionally, this may be offered to safari camps when the safari season starts in 2022.
Borehole Drilling

Borehole Drilling

Wildlife awareness meetings have been held in local communities for children, in our new Conservation Clubs, and for large groups of village members, re­enforcing the value of the Zimbabwean natural heritage and wildlife/environmental conservation. Community engagement meetings put pressure on BSU to perform when it comes to the management of HWC issues.
Conservation club at local school

Conservation club at local school

Nick Murray speaks at an elephant management plan meeting

Nick Murray speaks at an elephant management plan meeting

We were concerned that 2021 was going to be a tough environment for conservation funding. We had incredibly strong support as Covid impacted the world in 2020, resulting in the closure of safari camps and causing ranger furloughs to reduce costs and infections.

With the generous support of our BC donors, BSU did not skip a beat and pushed through the year successfully preventing the poaching of any elephants in Mana Pools National Park through 2020, and the same result for 2021.

I would like to extend our gratitude to our donors from all the BSU drivers and scouts who worked tirelessly They knew they had full­time employment, while other safari camps in the area remained closed. We receive no government funding, and it is thanks to our loyal donors that we carry out our conservation work in our beloved Zambezi Valley.

Nick Murray, President
Bushlife Conservancy

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