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Update on Hwange National Park
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
October 15, 2006

We recently received a very large donation of USD8 500 from Nicholas Duncan of the SAVE Foundation of Australia. They requested that this donation be used to purchase 10 000 litres of diesel to keep 5 elected pans full of water during this dry period.

We purchased the 10 000 litres of fuel and loaded it into a fuel tanker together with a further 5 000 litres bought by Friends of Hwange for use in the 10 pans that they are looking after. An additional 1 000 litres was donated by Fred Knott of Sandvik.  

We are beginning to get complimentary emails from tourists saying that they are gratified to see that the pans all have water now and the picnic sites are being maintained. This is very encouraging and our heartfelt appreciation goes to all the donors who have made this possible.

Rhino shot in Hwange National Park
We have just received a disturbing report about a black rhino being shot for its horn in Hwange National Park.

The incident happened very recently during the last annual game count. A group of people who were engaged in the game count heard bursts of automatic gun fire from an AK very close by, followed by hacking sounds. They scanned the bush with binoculars and saw two men in the bush about three hundred metres away. They were understandably reluctant to approach the men as they were not armed but they reported the matter to National Parks who did a follow-up the next morning.

At the site where the two men had been seen, a dead black rhino cow was found with her horn missing. There were two sets of footprints and it was determined that one of the men had been wearing gum boots and the other, track shoes or tackies.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

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