Feature

Drought threatens wildlife sanctuaries

 

Forget poachers. Animals south of the Sahara Desert face a new foe called El Nino.

At Majete Wildlife Reserve, the new enemy is endemic.

Drought is desiccating the scenic woodland into a dustbowl.

Wallowing into the safari park, ranger-cum-guide Biliati Zidana worriedly draws our attention to dry ponds.

Now, animals walk long distances to avoid thirsting to death “as did a few bushbucks and impalas” last year.

Animals at Majete are enduring long walks to waterholes
Animals at Majete are enduring long walks to waterholes

“It’s frightening, much worse than last year,” he explains, signalling to a cracked crust. “There used to be a natural pond, now the animals walk all the way to the Shire River.”

The exhilarating game drive offers tourists eye-catching sights of elephants, leopards, buffaloes, lions and rhinos.

Besides the ‘Big Five’, kudus, impalas, waterbucks, hippopotami, warthogs, crocodiles and monkeys come into view.

As the wildlife flash past, dust whirls into the drying savannah where grazing animals are slowly running out of food and water.

For these animals, it is survival of the fittest.

Majete may not be quite as dry as South Africa’s Kruger National Park where rangers plan to kill 350 buffaloes and hippos as the worst drought in 30 years keeps haunting Southern Africa.

Kruger has experienced an unprecedented boom of the drought-prone animals lately, but this is not about keeping wildlife population in check.

“We do not call it a cull. We call it an off-take,” Isaac Phaahla, spokesperson for National Parks in that country tells The Guardian.

He explains: “We don’t want the animals dying of hunger and rotting on the ground. We are trying to be humane in the way the animals die.”

The tale of agony has sent ripples of fear to those in charge of Malawi’s wildlife reserves.

According to Majete heritage site manager Jackson Vega, the woods, grasslands and wetlands have dried too early this year.

He says: “Climate change is hitting all parts of Southern Africa, so is drought which has left many Malawians struggling to overcome food shortage.

“Animals are also experiencing extreme hardship. They have difficulties reaching for water and there isn’t much grass left.  Maybe just along the Shire River.”

The “scary parch” has pushed African Parks to sink new waterholes on the western part of the park to supplement the Shire and the drying ponds. The concessionaire is using solar energy to pump underground water into the newly-built ponds.

The safari park is somewhat resilient to the looming “wildlife disaster”, thanks to the river in its midst.

“For us, it’s a bit easier.  The animals wouldn’t have survived the effects of drought without the Shire,” Vega says.

However, the country’s largest river – the main source of electricity for the nation and water for the City of Blantyre -has been drying at an alarming rate for decades.

The road to Kapichira Hydro-power Plant splits the reserve, but guides say there is much for tourists to see as the stunning waterfalls are slowly dried up.

Biliati said: “The water levels usually dwindle when the barrage is closed.  However, the situation does not look promising even when the barrage is open.”

Frequent power outages and dry taps in Blantyre attest to this.

The prevailing drought is a national tragedy steadily wearing down the glimmer of major game reserves, national parks and other tourist attractions, director of tourism Isaac Katopola bemoans.

Majete alone welcomes almost 200 sightseers every weekend, a glimpse of the tourism industry which generates nearly K170 billion for the ailing economy.

“Climate change is real.  All wildlife reserves are affected in one way or another.  However, we can’t afford to lose the animals.

“We can only encourage them to construct new waterholes and work closely with surrounding villages to conserve natural resources and lessen the extreme impacts of climate change.”

The official urged against wanton felling of trees, unsustainable farming methods and other harmful practices that fuel siltation of rivers, drying of wetlands and loss of moisture in vital ecosystems.

George Nxumayo, regional wildlife officer in the North, offers a glimpse of the stride to save wildlife at Nyika National Park and Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve.

He reckons the largest national park in the country has not suffered much since it sits atop the Nyika Plateau, a watershed for many rivers that flow into Lake Malawi.

However, he explained, Vwaza Marsh, like Elephant Marsh at Majete, Lake Chilwa, Lake Chiuta and other wetlands, is at the risk of drying.

“Nyika looks better than Vwaza where Lake Kazuni is the main source of water for the animals. The lake has suffered an early loss of water,” said Nxumayo.

In July, rangers at Vwaza obstructed the outlet of Lake Kazuni with bags of sand to conserve water for a massive population of hippos, crocodile, fish and other animals that depend on it.

“We usually block the river in August or early September to avoid total loss of water into South Rukuru. This year, we built the barrier as early as July to save enough water,” he said.

Vwaza is an at-risk wetland due to massive deforestation and agricultural activity in the neighbourhood.

The Rukuru River and the scenic lake are gradually getting shallower, buried in silt from gullies emanating from the bare fields.

“For now, the unsettling scenario at Krueger looks remote. However, we may soon get into that situation if we don’t take necessary steps to conserve the environment and use natural resources sustainably.” n

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