By Johnson Siamachira
Harare, September 9, 2026 (New Ziana) — Zimbabwe has fitted six African savannah elephants with satellite-linked collars in and around Hwange National Park to track their movements and help authorities reduce growing conflict between wildlife and surrounding communities.
In a statement on Wednesday, the International Fund For Animal Welfare (IFAW) said the operation, conducted jointly by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) and IFAW, brings to 30 the number of elephants collared under the conservation partnership since it began in early 2024.
The latest group comprises three females and three males. The operation ended on Tuesday.
The GPS-enabled collars transmit location data through satellites, allowing conservation teams to identify elephant movement patterns, potential conflict hotspots and wildlife corridors.
Authorities say the information will help strengthen early-warning systems and guide land-use planning in areas where people and wildlife increasingly share the same landscape.
“This work demonstrates how science and technology can strengthen conservation efforts,” said Phillip Kuvawoga, IFAW senior director for the Landscape Conservation Programme.
The initiative comes as Zimbabwe faces mounting pressure to balance wildlife conservation with the safety and livelihoods of communities living near protected areas.
ZimParks reported that human-wildlife conflict cases rose 26 per cent from 1,654 in 2024 to 2,090 in 2025. Elephants were among the species most frequently involved, while 62 people died and 81 were injured in human-wildlife conflict incidents last year.
Hwange, Zimbabwe’s largest national park at about 14,650 square kilometres, supports the country’s largest elephant population. Conservation estimates put the country’s elephant population at about 82,000, while some recent operational estimates exceed 100,000 animals.
Hwange National Park alone supports roughly 45,000 elephants, far above its ecological carrying capacity of about 15,000. The park’s extensive savanna and woodland ecosystems also support hundreds of other wildlife species.
Zimbabwe’s new 2026-2036 Elephant Management Plan identifies human-elephant conflict as a major conservation challenge.
It says growing human populations and expanding elephant numbers have increasingly restricted wildlife to smaller areas, prompting elephants to move into farming communities where they destroy crops and threaten lives.
Professor Edson Gandiwa, ZimParks director general, said scientific evidence would strengthen elephant management and efforts to promote coexistence between people and wildlife.
“Through our partnership with IFAW, this programme is generating valuable information to strengthen elephant management and support coexistence between people and wildlife,” he said, adding: “Conservation decisions are strongest when guided by sound scientific evidence.”
The collaring programme forms part of IFAW’s Room to Roam initiative, which seeks to protect, restore and reconnect about 320,000 square kilometres of elephant habitat across eastern and southern Africa. Data from the Hwange landscape will help identify corridors and dispersal areas that are important for maintaining connected wildlife populations.
ZimParks has increasingly turned to technology and community-based measures to address conflict, including geofencing, community guardians, awareness campaigns and other early-warning interventions.
The authority says such measures are becoming more important as climate change intensifies competition for water and grazing resources.
The new collars are expected to provide authorities with more precise information on where elephants move, when they leave protected areas and which routes could be protected to reduce encounters with people.
Tracking records show elephants increasingly cluster around permanent rivers, pumped boreholes and artificial water points during prolonged dry seasons.
As natural pans disappear, herds move closer to villages searching for water and forage, increasing the likelihood of conflict with people.
The longer scientists collect data, the clearer these climate-driven movement patterns become.
New Ziana
