Hwange National Park

Hwange is Zimbabwe’s largest National Park, accounting for an area of 14,651km² being approximately half the size of Belgium. It is located in the northwest corner of the country about two hours south of the mighty Victoria Falls.

Formerly occupied by the San bushmen, the Nhanzwa, and latterly the royal hunting ground for the Matabele king, Mzilikazi, the area was gazetted for wildlife conservation in 1928 and then called Wankie Game Reserve, with the first warden being 22-year-old Ted Davison. The reserve was created because the land was unsuitable for agriculture with poor soils and scarce water supplies. Along with neighbouring Robin’s Game Sanctuary (which belonged to H.G. Robins, a cattle rancher), it became a national park under the National Park Act of 1949.

Ted Davison walked across most of the park’s immense area during 1928 and 1929 and discovered that wildlife was almost non-existent. The once-teeming population of elephants was estimated to be under 1,000, and the black and white rhinoceros had been eliminated. With water being the critical element, Davison set upon creating over 60 new artificial pans, which helped to boost wildlife numbers now able to access drier parts of the park. To this day, water remains vital to the survival of the park and its wildlife. Thanks to individual organisations such as Friends of Hwange, many of the waterholes are still functioning today.