A black rhino, illustrative image, Image credit: Shutterstock
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Four Zimbabwe rhinos die after drinking polluted water
Three zebras, four wildebeest, four fish eagles and several goats and cattle also died last week
Harare, December 15, 2024 (AFP) - Four white rhinos have died in Zimbabwe after drinking from a sewage-polluted lake that is also the main water supplier for the nearby capital, the wildlife authority said on Saturday.
Three zebras, four wildebeest, four fish eagles and several goats and cattle have also died in the last week after drinking from Lake Chivero, 30 kilometres from Harare, a spokesman told AFP.
The animals were poisoned by cyanobacteria, which are also toxic to humans.
“The cyanobacteria are caused by water pollution,” ZimParks spokesman Tinashe Farawo told AFP. “Pollution continues to increase in Lake Chivero, where the Harare Harare Municipality is dumping raw sewage.”
ZimParks has relocated the remaining rhinos from Lake Chivero Recreational Park to prevent further deaths, he said.
The authorities do not provide data on the number of endangered black and white rhinos in the country's game reserves for security reasons, as the animals are targeted by illegal poachers.
ZimParks has tried to prevent wildlife from reaching the polluted water
but this was difficult amid the hot, dry conditions.
“To reduce the risk, we implemented measures to prevent animals from drinking from the affected dam by placing salt and nut blocks around the park, as well as artificial water points. To mitigate the risk, we implemented measures to prevent animals from drinking from the affected dam by placing salt blocks and game nuts around the park, as well as artificial water points with clean water,” said Farawo.
“Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough, as the animals continued to drink from the lake.
White rhinos are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a “near threatened” species, with the population growing after near extinction at the end of the 19th century. There are around 10,080 in Africa, according to the organization.
The black rhino is listed as critically endangered, with only around 3,140 left in the world.
In ZimParks' most recent figures, Zimbabwe had just 496 black rhinos and 374 white rhinos.
Its black rhino population in the 1970s was around 3,500, the largest in the world, according to ZimParks.
str/br/rlp
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