The population of buffalo in north-western Zimbabwe is
secondary to the buffalo population
in northern Botswana but is of interest in the context
of a long term vision for a
trans-frontier conservation area where buffalo populations
are able to move freely between Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
|
Figure 10: The location of veterinary fences
|
Although veterinary
control fences do not prevent movements of Zimbabwe
buffalo westwards into northern Botswana (Figure
10), only minor excursions have been recorded during
the wet season.
Possible reasons:
- The large physical gap between the international boundary
and the nearest permanent water supplies in Chobe National
Park
- The access for Zimbabwean buffalo to the eastern end
of the Caprivi is barred by relatively dense human settlement.
Sample count aerial surveys have been consistently and regularly
carried out in north-western Matabeleland area of Zimbabwe
since 1980 and the past 10 years of results from Hwange National
Park and Matetsi Safari Area are presented below.
| Year |
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
| Hwange NP |
8,572 |
29,142 |
4,965 |
3,237 |
1,415 |
1,840 |
2,373 |
3,167 |
8,122 |
No Survey
|
6,663 |
| Matetsi SA |
1,279 |
16,893 |
6,824 |
822 |
3,674 |
1,942 |
5,290 |
1,830 |
11,207 |
6,693 |
| TOTAL |
9,851 |
46,035 |
11,789 |
4,059
|
5,089 |
3,782 |
7,663 |
4,997 |
19,329 |
-
|
13,356 |
These data show clearly that although the same population
is unlikely to have altered by more than 10% between years
very large fluctuations are possible from one survey to
the next. These fluctuations indicate that present
aerial survey techniques are illsuited for buffalo
|
|
