"Let me put things to bed be BEFORE the majority of you run with speculation from Facebook and heresay.
The bull was shot in Naivasha communal land adjacent to Gonerezhou, approx. 5km into the communal area
No one was aware of the collared elephant in the concession.
No one and I repeat no one reported the elephant to the camp and or the PH and or the operator, in fact the management of FZS who run the park knew the bull had been active in the hunting area for over a month by its GPS collar and refrained or decided not to inform the hunting company despite having comms daily with the safari operator and having a national parks ranger with a radio from their unit on the vehicle.
Elephant was 81/83
Have a good day and stay off Facebook."
MP
1 March 2018
Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association (ZPHGA) Mukuvisi Woodlands
Hillside Rd / Glenara Ave South
Harare
Tel : +263 4 779792
Internal statement to members, associations and associated conservation groups on shooting of collared elephant in Naivasha C.A.M.P.F.I.R.E. area:
Background: For those members not familiar with the Gonarezhou region - Naivasha is a community conservancy of just over 100 000 acres that shares approximately 60km of boundary with Gonarezhou National Park.
Events as recounted to us through interviews and statements: The PH, Martin Pieters, a ZPHGA member, was conducting a 14 day elephant safari in the Naivasha. He was accompanied by his Russian client, a non-hunting observer, two trackers, a Gonarezhou Parks and Wildlife Ranger and a Chiredzi Rural District Council representative.
He was not informed of any collared elephant in the communal area although this bull had been mostly resident in the area since the 20th February this year.
On the 6th day of the safari, 7th March 2018, the tracks of this elephant were found and followed. The elephant was eventually located, approximately 5km from the park boundary. Due to thick bush at this time of year, the bull was not visible in it’s entirety. The PH was, however, able to ascertain that the elephant was carrying substantial ivory, and instructed the client to shoot. It was only after approaching the elephant on the ground that the collar was noticed. It was removed and returned to the Mbalahuta Parks offices and a full statement made to the Senior Wildlife Officer.
Current finding: After interviewing the PH in charge of the safari and communications with authorities from Gonarezhou, it is unfortunate that neither the PH, Ranger or RDC representative where notified by the Authorities that the collored bull had been in the hunting area since the 20th of February, nor had any of them attempted to establish if a bull of significance was in or near the hunting area. The EXCO concludes that, while a tragedy, based on information provided by the PH, the Gonarezhou ranger and the authorities in Gonarezhou this was a genuine mistake due to a lack of communication.
Comment: The population of elephants in Gonarezhou has steadily increased to 11000(2 elephants/ km2) due to the incredible conservation efforts by the successful partnership between Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Frankfurt Zoological Society.
Conservation success stories as in the case of Gonarezhou and other National Parks in Zimbabwe, have the inevitable consequence of an increased overflow of key species to adjacent areas. We urge our members to communicate with local and appropriate authorities on movements of any animals of significance, and not assume you will be notified.
James Rosenfels
Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association
Frankfurt Zoological Society
Through a long-standing, successful partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the elephant population in Gonarezhou has been well protected. With an estimated 11 000 elephants, at a density of more than 2 elephants/km2, Gonarezhou has one of the highest densities of elephants on the continent. As part of FZS’s support to ZPWMA, an elephant collaring exercise was carried out in 2009, and again in 2016 (Additional studies were also carried out by local research institutions). The aim of placing satellite collars on elephants in Gonarezhou, close to the Park boundaries, was primarily to achieve a better understanding of their movements, and the degree to which elephants are crossing out of the Park into the wider ecosystem - both to determine options for linkages to other protected areas within the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area as well as to pinpoint potential areas of conflict between elephants and human settlements outside the Park.
Protecting elephants and their habitats is at the core of our conservation efforts, and the data gathered through the collaring exercise feeds directly into this process.
There are no fences that prevents these animals from wandering outside the Park, and with the growing population of elephant inside Gonarezhou it is inevitable, and for the sake of conservation on a wider scale, even desirable, for elephants and other animals to move across the Park’s boundaries. One of these collared bulls were shot on a legal hunt in Naivasha in the first week of March. Naivasha is an area directly adjacent to Gonarezhou that has been set aside for wildlife and safari hunting by local communities. There is no law that protects a collared animal from being hunted in Zimbabwe, but there is general acceptance that the ethical position is that a hunter will avoid shooting an animal with a collar.
The data from this bull has been captured and will help us with our ongoing efforts to find solutions, together with our local and international partners, to conservation questions in a world where the challenges to find space for wildlife and their habitats are becoming ever more complicated.
