This archive report was first published on 21 October 2019.
Published on October 21, 2019, by AFP.
At least 55 elephants have died in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park due to a severe drought, with the country facing one of its worst droughts in history.
More than five million rural Zimbabweans, nearly a third of the population, are at risk of food shortages before the next harvest in 2020, according to the United Nations.
The drought has been caused by a combination of an economic downturn and the El Nino weather cycle.
"Since September, we have lost at least 55 elephants in Hwange National Park due to starvation and lack of water," said Zimbabwe National Parks spokesman Tinashe Farawo.
Farawo attributed the deaths to overpopulation and a scarcity of food and water, which he said was due to drought.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Africa's elephant numbers have dropped from around 415,000 to 111,000 over the past decade, mainly due to poaching for ivory.
However, Zimbabwe is struggling with overpopulation, with Hwange National Park meant to accommodate 15,000 elephants but currently hosting more than 50,000.
"The situation is dire. We are desperately waiting for the rains," Farawo said.
Elephants in search of food have been breaking out of game reserves and raiding human settlements, posing a threat to surrounding communities.
Between 2014 and 2019, 200 people died in "human-and-animal conflict," and at least 7,000 hectares of crops were destroyed by elephants.
Earlier this year, the authorities sold nearly 100 elephants to China and Dubai for $2.7 million, with the funds allocated to anti-poaching and conservation projects.
