ABSTRACT The Mana Pools Game Count took place on the 26th and 27th September. The census had a total of 119 voluntary participants in 21 teams divided into 18 transect teams and 3 static teams. Though the number of individuals was less as compared to previous years, all transects were covered with the exception of the recently introduced Mana Pools National Park Croton bush. Each transect was counted twice. This year twenty-nine (29) Game Count Report 2015 animal species were observed WEZ National Office 2015 Game Counts WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) WEZ Environmental Awareness and Education Programme Table of Contents Background of Mana Pools National Park .................................................................................................... 2 Background of the organization .................................................................................................................... 2 Background and Rationale of the Game Count ............................................................................................ 3 Aim and objective of the Game Count .......................................................................................................... 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 3 General overview of the count ..................................................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 6 2015 TRANSECT COUNT SPECIES SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 8 2015 STATIC COUNT RESULTS ..................................................................................................................... 11 ANNUAL NUMBER OF PANS AND SPECIES .................................................................................................. 14 GROUP 1 COUNTS 1993- 2015 .................................................................................................................... 15 GROUP 2 COUNTS 1993- 2015 .................................................................................................................... 16 TOTAL IMPALA COUNTS 1994 - 2015 .......................................................................................................... 17 1 WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) WEZ Environmental Awareness and Education Programme Background of Mana Pools National Park Mana Pools National Park is 2,196 square kilometres in extent but is part of the 10,500 square kilometre Parks and Wildlife Estate that runs from the Kariba Dam in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. This large area is without physical boundaries and the wildlife is free to move throughout the area - even northwards across the Zambezi River into Zambia, where there are also large wilderness areas set aside for wildlife conservation. The Park is a World Heritage Site and is also part of Zimbabwe’s first biosphere reserve (Middle Zambezi Biosphere Reserve) as inscribed by the United Nations Education Science and Communications Organisation (UNESCO). The name "Mana'' means "four" in the local Shona language. This applies to the four large pools inland from the Zambezi River. These pools are the remnant ox-bow lakes that the Zambezi River carved out thousands of years ago as it changed its course northwards. ''Long Pool'', is the largest of the four pools, extending some six kilometres in a west-east direction. This unique popular park has a wide range of large mammals, over 350 bird species and aquatic wildlife (Zimparks, 2015).Tourists have the privilege of walking unaccompanied by guides in one of the worlds’ wildest and preserved natural ecological areas, another exclusive Zimbabwean experience. As one moves northwards towards the Zambezi River from the forests on the Karoo sediments, the vegetation changes to open Faidherbia albida woodlands on the old river terraces. Large mammals usually seen include elephant, eland, buffalo, impala, waterbuck, baboons, monkeys, zebra, warthog and hippo ,lions, leopards, spotted hyaena and cheetah. Background of the organization Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ) is a membership based organisation founded in 1927. Its members consist of individuals, families, corporate and educational institutions that care for the future of Zimbabwe’s environment, wildlife and its people. It liaises with other environmental organizations locally, regionally, and internationally, and collaborates with Government Departments that are in charge of conservation of natural resources. WEZ aims to support efforts towards using Zimbabwe’s human resources to ensure sustainable usage and conservation of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. To this effect, the organisation came up with several initiatives to encourage and assist all people in Zimbabwe to understand the importance of wildlife and the environment. Game counts have been conducted by our members since 1972 as one of these initiatives in partnership with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in the following areas: Mana Pools National Park Hwange National Park Gonarezhou National Park Matusadonha National Park and 2 WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) WEZ Environmental Awareness and Education Programme Sebakwe Recreational Park Background and Rationale of the Game Count WEZ has been on the forefront of conservation, lobbying for the establishment of National Parks and protected areas, assisting in the management of these, and spreading knowledge on conservation and environmental issues. Game counts have therefore been incorporated in order to engage more people to have an active interest in their environmental heritage. These censuses: give trends and rough indications of game population sizes indicate if animals are being disturbed by poachers or not show animals that a tourist is likely to see assess the status of vegetation cover and the availability of water for the animals use the census information to advise National Parks on the status of biodiversity and on how to put in place biodiversity conservation and management priorities. Aim and objective of the Game Count Though a layman’s appraisal, the idea behind the Mana Pools Game Count is to collect and collate data to establish the state of the environment and the wildlife numbers within the park. Through these results, WEZ is able to assess the trends in populations of each species and determine if there are any signs of strain on the environment or on a particular species. The results may also be used in the formulation of Parks’ management plan. WEZ has organized annual game counts in other Parks that have been a great source of data to scientific researches and the trends observed have shown significant factors affecting species populations. Methodology Volunteer members of the Society took part in the Count. All teams arrived the day before the count began so as to get acclimatised to the area, attend pre-count team briefing. Static Counts Static counts are held over a 24 hour period, taking advantage of the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon when there is maximum visibility. Transect Counts Each team walked four different transects during the weekend and each transect was counted two times. The teams navigated by compass or GPS along the transects. There was a choice of walking unaccompanied or with one of the National Parks Rangers or professional guides. 3 WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) WEZ Environmental Awareness and Education Programme General overview of the count The Mana Pools Game Count took place on the 26th and 27th September. The census had a total of 119 voluntary participants in 21 teams divided into 18 transect teams and 3 static teams. Though the number of individuals was less as compared to previous years, all transects were covered with the exception of the recently introduced Croton bush. Over the counting period, it was hot by day, and warm by night. Visibility was excellent during the whole of the counting period, with the moonlight providing good viewing throughout the night for those participating in the static count. This year twenty-nine (29) animal species were observed. A pack of 14 wild dogs were seen in one of the transects but were not recorded as it was after the counting period. Across the flood plain, volunteers were able to see the hooded vulture which is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. An elephant carcass with tusks intact was found in Transect 55.5 and Parks officials were notified. A pair of elephant tasks were picked up in one of the transects and were handed over to the Parks Offices. 4 WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT ZIMBABWE (WEZ) WEZ Environmental Awareness and Education Programme Please note that data from the 2002 and 2014 Game Counts is missing and efforts to obtain it from the previous Mana Game Count Committee were not successful. Recommendations The following recommendations were made by the participants so as to make future Game Censuses yield even better results: The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) rangers are excellent with identification of animal species, however,