As climate change intensifies and water sources dry up across southern Africa, Zimbabwe is fighting a growing crisis—one not just of drought and crop failure, but of survival. Not only for people, but also for its iconic elephants.
In a small village on the edge of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, Capon Sibanda races down dusty paths on his bicycle. With no time to waste, he delivers urgent elephant alerts to residents who live off the digital grid. The warning system isn’t just modern—it’s potentially life-saving.
These alerts are triggered by GPS collars fitted to elephant matriarchs roaming near villages. Launched last year by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in collaboration with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the initiative is transforming how rural communities manage their often dangerous coexistence with elephants.
Tracking Elephants to Save Lives
“Every time I wake up, I take my bike, grab my device, and hit the road,” says Sibanda, one of dozens of trained local volunteers serving as “community guardians.” He logs unusual animal behavior and elephant spoor (tracks), often snapping photos and storing data on his phone for park rangers and conservationists to analyze.
When a GPS-tagged elephant strays too close to the buffer zone between the park and human settlements, the system sends an automatic alert. It pings cell phones and WhatsApp groups, giving guardians like Sibanda a critical head start to warn villagers—especially those without mobile access.
“Whatever I see in the bush that’s not normal, I record it,” Sibanda explains. His dedication has earned him the trust of his community, which occasionally rewards him with gifts of crops, meat, or other goods. He also receives a monthly food allotment worth about $80, along with data bundles to stay connected.
Climate Change Fuels Deadly Conflict
Villagers have coexisted with elephants for generations, often using traditional methods—shouting, banging pots, or burning dung—to deter crop-raiding animals. But worsening droughts have driven elephants further into human territory in search of food and water.
“We have a big problem with elephants,” says Senzeni Sibanda, a councillor and farmer tending her tomato crops with cow dung manure in a communal garden that supports a school feeding program. “They devour the little that we harvest.”
Senzeni explains that the elephants have learned to time their raids with the harvest. “They know when our crops are ready. We use the same roads, the same grazing areas, and the same water. It’s a daily struggle.”
Zimbabwe currently holds an estimated 100,000 elephants—more than double what its land and resources can sustainably support, according to wildlife authorities.
Between January and April this year alone, 18 people were killed in conflicts involving elephants, lions, and hyenas, forcing the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to eliminate 158 problem animals during that same period.
A New Weapon: Real-Time Monitoring
At a park outpost one morning, IFAW Field Operations Manager Arnold Tshipa sits at a laptop, monitoring elephant movements in real time through the EarthRanger platform. Moving icons represent herds, each linked to GPS-collared matriarchs.
“When an icon crosses a red line on the map, we get an alert,” Tshipa explains. “Collaring helps us understand animal behavior in human-wildlife corridors. This allows us to deploy resources to high-risk areas before incidents occur.”
Sixteen elephants, mostly female leaders of their herds, have so far been collared under the program. With each matriarch typically leading several family members, rangers can monitor entire herds by tracking just one animal.
“It’s not just about warning people,” Tshipa says. “It’s about learning how people and wildlife interact—and how we can reduce friction.”
The platform also logs incidents of crop damage, livestock killings by predators, and retaliatory attacks by villagers against wildlife. Guardians like Sibanda are geotagged too, helping coordinators track response times and effectiveness.
Progress—but Not a Solution
While the new system is helping, communities say it’s not nearly enough.
“We still bang pans, but now we get warnings in time,” says Senzeni. “The rangers come faster now. But the elephants still come. They break our water tanks and destroy our crops.”
Her community receives a portion of annual trophy hunting revenues—typically between $10,000 and $80,000, about the value of one elephant—used for essentials like water pumps and fencing. But with several hundred people to support, it doesn’t stretch far.
“We need more,” she insists. “We want our share increased. And we want the government to raise the elephant hunting quota.”
Zimbabwe’s annual hunting limit stands at 500 elephants, a figure that has drawn criticism from wildlife activists. But communities living on the frontlines of human-elephant conflict are calling for practical solutions, not ideology.
In 2023, Zimbabwe and Namibia sparked international outrage after suggesting they might slaughter elephants to feed drought-affected villages. Botswana’s former president even offered to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, while another official mockingly proposed dropping 10,000 into London’s Hyde Park so that Britons could “experience life alongside elephants.”
A Balancing Act
With Hwange National Park alone hosting 45,000 elephants—yet designed to hold only 15,000—Zimbabwe faces a massive ecological and humanitarian challenge. The collaring project, while promising, remains limited in scale.
“There’s still a huge gap,” admits Tshipa. “We need more collars, more funding, and more personnel.”
Yet the project is offering hope. It’s also fostering local involvement, empowering guardians like Capon Sibanda who blend traditional knowledge with modern tech to protect both people and wildlife.
As climate change continues to disrupt ecosystems and food chains, this blend of community-led conservation and smart technology may become Zimbabwe’s best defense against the escalating human-wildlife conflict.
“We found the elephants here,” says Senzeni Sibanda. “They belong. But so do we. If we don’t find a way to live together, we all lose.”
