600 elephants will be relocated from Save Valley Conservancy in south-east Zimbabwe to other National Parks in Zimbabwe in June 2020 to prevent them being culled.

This bold conservation initiative by Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) and the Save Valley Conservancy stakeholders will be the largest elephant translocation in history. Zimparks have again taken the initiative and authorised the conservancy to relocate 600 elephants to other national parks in Zimbabwe. Watch the video to find out more about the translocation from Zimparks:

Relocating 600 elephants is possible...

Relocation has been commonly used as a conservation strategy for decades.  Elephant relocation, pioneered by the late Clem Coetzee in 1993, has been saving elephants and other wildlife for the last 26 years. In 2017, 500 elephants were relocated in Malawi. Watch the video to see how it was done:

The global warming effect

As global warming continues, the dramatic weather patterns will affect the wildlife areas across Africa. Poor rains and increasing elephant numbers have taken a toll on the vegetation that other wildlife rely on.  Elephants are the keystone species and require 90+ kg of fresh browse daily.  This reduces the available food for other wildlife.  To reduce grazing/browsing pressure and wildlife/human conflict the only effective conservation management tool that avoids the need to cull is relocating wildlife to depleted wildlife areas. Relocating elephants reduces pressure on food resources for all wildlife.

Specialised equipment is needed

Whilst the funds to capture the 600 elephants and move them to the recipient parks can be sourced from wildlife charities and foundations the funding gap is the huge amount of equipment required by his team to build holding pens, lifting equipment, gathering food for the elephants and providing experienced escorts to accompany the elephants on their journeys.  It's a challenge that needs to be met by all stakeholders who benefit from wildlife tourism.

Steve Voss, the Save Valley Conservancy Conservation Officer,  has a huge challenge to manage the relocation.  His enthusiasm and commitment to saving the 600 elephant from an uncertain future, if they can't be moved, inspired me to to reach out to all members of the safari industry to see if they would help raise funds for the ancillary equipment he needs to deliver success.  This equipment, which needs to be ordered now, will be used for future translocations of elephants and other wildlife to ensure their long-term safety. Watch the video to learn more about The Save Valley Conservancy:

Wildlife tourism stakeholders have a part to play

As African travel professionals, who all make our living from the wildlife we love and share with our clients, we have a duty to play our part.  Whilst Save Valley Conservancy is not a well known tourism destination today, it has aspirations to link up with Malilangwe Game Reserve and Gona Rhe Zhou National Park in the future to re-create wildlife migration corridors.

The Safari Guild will monitor the elephant translocation

All donations over GB£100 will be acknowledged on The Safari Guild Elephant Translocation Appeal webpage and report*. The Safari Guild will oversee that all donations are spent on the equipment needed to make this conservation initiative a success.  We will have a monitor in Zimbabwe during the translocation and report back to all donors when the translocation is complete.  

* unless requested not to disclose donor details