page_title: Wildlife of Zimbabwe
section_title: Hwange National Park
hierarchical_section_title: Wildlife of Zimbabwe / Wildlife estate / Hwange National Park
caption_attribution_description: English: Elephants at Longone Pan, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
context_page_description: The wildlife of Zimbabwe occurs foremost in remote or rugged terrain, in national parks and private wildlife ranches, in miombo woodlands and thorny acacia or kopje. The prominent wild fauna includes African buffalo, African bush elephant, black rhinoceros, southern giraffe, African leopard, lion, plains zebra, and several antelope species.
  The introduction of the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1960 resulted in checking the loss of wildlife in Zimbabwe, since the 1960s. In the 1990s, it became one of the leading countries in Africa in wildlife conservation and management with a reported income generation US$300 million per year from the protected areas of the state, rural community run wildlife management areas and private game ranches and reserves. The Parks and Wildlife Board consisting of 12 members is responsible for this activity and deciding on policy issues under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management.
  The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority under the Board has the onerous task of overseeing the activities related to 10 national parks, nine recreational parks, four botanical gardens, four safari areas, and three sanctuaries.
context_section_description: The Hwange National Park (formerly Wankie National Park) established in 1929 with an area of 14,650 km² (5,660 sq mi) is the largest park and game reserve in Zimbabwe in the south-west corner of the country. The park lies on the main road between Bulawayo and the widely noted Victoria Falls. In the 19th century it was the hunting ground of the Ndebele warrior-king Mzilikazi and it is named after the local Nhanzwa chief. The park is close to the edge of the Kalahari desert, a region with little water and very sparse, xerophile vegetation. While the park abounds in elephant population (one of the largest in the world), it also hosts 100 mammal species, including 19 large herbivores and eight large carnivores and 400 bird species; Zimbabwe's specially protected animals are all found here. Gemsbok, brown hyena and African wild dogs occur in fairly large numbers (the population of African wild dogs is stated to be of one of the largest surviving groups in Africa now). The very large elephant population has been a matter of concern since, during drought years, they are a burden on the ecological balance of the region. Elephant culling has been done to restrict the population of elephants to 13,000 (less than 1 per km²); against the recommended population of 35,000 – 40,000 animals (0.6 per km²) for the country as a whole. Apart from culling the other suggested option to keep the elephant population under check is sterilization. Conservationists covering this area have also expressed concern at the large "deforestation, poaching and unsustainable resource exploitation" that is occurring in this national park attributed to political and economic instability in the country.
caption: Elephants at Longone Pan, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
exif: {}