FYI -- Gonarezhou National Park is situated in South Eastern Zimbabwe.
For decades Gonarezhou was considered too remote, virtually inaccessible to tourists. Besides, visitors want to see animals, and most had been shot out by hunters and poachers. But today, wildlife numbers here are booming.
The name Gonarezhou is generally accepted to mean ‘place of the elephant’, an apt description of this brooding low veld region of Zimbabwe. The 2014 aerial survey counted just over 11,000 in the park, up from 4000 in 1994.
Gonarezhou has more elephants than the whole of Mozambique, and one of the highest densities in Africa (at about two per square kilometre). And it gets better: the tuskers of Gonarezhou are the biggest in Zimbabwe, clearly sharing DNA with the famed large bulls in Kruger.
In 1979, Kabakwe was the legendary bull that was the first to be given special legal protection from hunting. One of the biggest of recent times (tusks of 45 kilograms each) was shot in the Malapati hunting area adjacent to Gonarezhou in October 2015. So the bulls with big ivory are still here, only there used to be far more of them.
Gonarezhou is not just about elephants. In 10 days African Lions were seen four times and heard their roars most nights, as well as the howls of spotted hyenas. One also saw a pack of seven wild dogs and several pups; Gonarezhou has one of the strongest populations of these endangered carnivores, a dozen packs.
‘I never saw a lion or leopard for the first three years here,’ says Hugo van der Westhuizen, the park’s conservation manager for the past decade. ‘You’d wake up early in the morning and
there were hardly any animal sounds. It was depressing.’
Now, thanks to stringent anti-poaching measures, the animal statistics makes for reassuring reading.
The last predator survey in 2015 showed that there are approximately 125 lions, up from just 31 in 2009. Other predators have also increased significantly: 642 spotted hyenas (from 407), 279 wild dogs (from 30) and 90 cheetahs (from 22).
All herbivore species have increased significantly too. At the last count in 2014, there were 8000 impalas, 1700 kudus, 6000 Cape buffaloes, 1300 Burchell’s zebras, 900 wildebeest, 500 giraffes and 500 hippos.
Mana Pools has its albida forests alongside the Zambezi River.
Gonarezhou’s Chilojo Cliffs elicit a similar sense of wonder. Rising 200 metres above the floodplain of the broad Runde River, the 13-kilometre sandstone rampart is magnificent. It’s the defining feature of this remote wilderness.
Here the Runde flows south and seems to bump into the cliffs, then has to flow north to meet the narrow, powerful Save. Together, these rivers give the northern part of the park a unique sense of place. From the top of the cliffs, Gonarezhou’s diverse landscapes are clear to see.
Most obvious are the extensive floodplains alongside the Runde, which reminded me a little of those at Mana Pools at the opposite end of the country. The large Tembwahata Pan lies near the confluence of the two rivers and draws plenty of elephant, buffalo and other wildlife during the hot days.
Credits : Getaway Magazine South Africa
For decades Gonarezhou was considered too remote, virtually inaccessible to tourists. Besides, visitors want to see animals, and most had been shot out by hunters and poachers. But today, wildlife numbers here are booming.
The name Gonarezhou is generally accepted to mean ‘place of the elephant’, an apt description of this brooding low veld region of Zimbabwe. The 2014 aerial survey counted just over 11,000 in the park, up from 4000 in 1994.
Gonarezhou has more elephants than the whole of Mozambique, and one of the highest densities in Africa (at about two per square kilometre). And it gets better: the tuskers of Gonarezhou are the biggest in Zimbabwe, clearly sharing DNA with the famed large bulls in Kruger.
In 1979, Kabakwe was the legendary bull that was the first to be given special legal protection from hunting. One of the biggest of recent times (tusks of 45 kilograms each) was shot in the Malapati hunting area adjacent to Gonarezhou in October 2015. So the bulls with big ivory are still here, only there used to be far more of them.
Gonarezhou is not just about elephants. In 10 days African Lions were seen four times and heard their roars most nights, as well as the howls of spotted hyenas. One also saw a pack of seven wild dogs and several pups; Gonarezhou has one of the strongest populations of these endangered carnivores, a dozen packs.
‘I never saw a lion or leopard for the first three years here,’ says Hugo van der Westhuizen, the park’s conservation manager for the past decade. ‘You’d wake up early in the morning and
there were hardly any animal sounds. It was depressing.’
Now, thanks to stringent anti-poaching measures, the animal statistics makes for reassuring reading.
The last predator survey in 2015 showed that there are approximately 125 lions, up from just 31 in 2009. Other predators have also increased significantly: 642 spotted hyenas (from 407), 279 wild dogs (from 30) and 90 cheetahs (from 22).
All herbivore species have increased significantly too. At the last count in 2014, there were 8000 impalas, 1700 kudus, 6000 Cape buffaloes, 1300 Burchell’s zebras, 900 wildebeest, 500 giraffes and 500 hippos.
Mana Pools has its albida forests alongside the Zambezi River.
Gonarezhou’s Chilojo Cliffs elicit a similar sense of wonder. Rising 200 metres above the floodplain of the broad Runde River, the 13-kilometre sandstone rampart is magnificent. It’s the defining feature of this remote wilderness.
Here the Runde flows south and seems to bump into the cliffs, then has to flow north to meet the narrow, powerful Save. Together, these rivers give the northern part of the park a unique sense of place. From the top of the cliffs, Gonarezhou’s diverse landscapes are clear to see.
Most obvious are the extensive floodplains alongside the Runde, which reminded me a little of those at Mana Pools at the opposite end of the country. The large Tembwahata Pan lies near the confluence of the two rivers and draws plenty of elephant, buffalo and other wildlife during the hot days.
Credits : Getaway Magazine South Africa
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