Many elephants? GPS collar helps Zimbabwe villagers to avoid deadly encounters

In the dusty borders of Hwanga National Park in Zimbabwe, a silent fight plays daily between existence and protection. As climate change is long drought during fuel period and shrinks food sources, elephants wander rapidly in nearby villages in search of water and crops, which often have fatal consequences.To prevent these conflicts, a new high -tech initial warning system is combining satellite data with old -fashioned community grit. Whenever GPS-collected elephants go to the buffer zone that separates wild land from human settlements, springs in local volunteer Capon Sibanda Sibings.“Every time I wake up, I take my bike, I take my gadget and collide with the road,” 29 -year -old Sibanda said, one of dozens of trained “community parents”, working to protect both people and elephants, as reported by AP.The GPS alert system, part of an initiative by the Wildlife Authority of Zimbabwe and an initiative by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was introduced in 2023. It uses a radical platform for real -time tracking and monitoring of elephants with collar, especially motherhood, a woman who heads a family. Digital maps track movements and trigger alerts when animals cross the invisible red lines that separate the protected and community land.This fusion of technology and community outreach has already begun to move the dynamic. “We are still banging, but now we get a warning on time,” says a local farmer and councilor Senejani Sibanda.But the problem is larger than GPS that can fix alone. The elephant population of Zimbabwe, 100,000 is estimated, is almost double what land can keep. Nevertheless, due to the pressure and high cost of protection, it has been away from the table of more than four decades (killing animals in a group), but the human toll is growing, 18 people were killed by wildlife between January and April this year; In response, 158 aggressive animals were killed.The major debate for Kulla has attracted global attention, some southern African countries, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, proposed radical ideas by legalizing elephants, such as the then President of Botswana offered a gift to Germany to Germany, and the Wildlife Minister of the country has offered a 10,000 directions.Nevertheless, many people see trekking initiative as an expected step. So far 16 elephants have been collar. This is a small start in Hwane, home for 45,000 elephants, but officials say it helps them to make smart, fast decision based on real -time figures.