Research
The Trust invites wildlife veterinarians and wildlife ecologists to submit disease surveillance or research project proposals. These proposals will be considered by the Trust Steering Committee, who will consult with Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA) and the State Wildlife Veterinary Unit (WVU). If the outcome of the research is deemed important enough to influence management decisions in the area, the Trust will aim to raise funds on behalf of the researchers, or provide the necessary equipment and facilities to complete the project.
A project is more likely to be approved if it focuses on a Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA). TFCAs, or 'peace parks', are large tracts of land designated for conservation that span international borders. Zimbabwe is involved in 6 of these initiatives: Great Limpopo TFCA; Greater Mapungubwe (formerly Limpopo-Shashe) TFCA; Kavango-Zambezi TFCA; Mana-Lower Zambezi TFCA; Chimanimani TFCA and ZiMoZa TFCA.
Latest updates
No FMD in LSTFCA cattle
In 2008, AWARE secured funding from the SADC FMD Program and performed a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) survey in 5% of the cattle in the proposed Limpopo-Shashe Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (LS-TFCA). The project was performed on behalf of the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services and in conjunction with vet department field staff in the area. The LS-TFCA is in the South-West corner of Zimbabwe where borders are shared with both South Africa and Botswana. The Maramani communal land is directly adjacent to the junction of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers, where all 3 countries meet, and is therefore destined to become part of the TFCA. It is thus important to know the disease status of cattle within this area because it has major implications for the future direction of the LS-TFCA. Results show that this population has not been exposed to FMD recently.
TB in lions in Gonarezhou?
AWARE recently did a preliminary foray into Gonarezhou National Park to attempt to test lions for Bovine Tuberculosis (BTB) see October 2009 newsletter. BTB, a disease exotic to the African continent, and eradicated from Zimbabwe (except for sporadic cases) by the early 1980s, is one of the diseases that poses a serious risk for Zimbabwean wildlife, domestic animals and people. The disease occurs in buffalo herds in Kruger National Park (KNP), and over the last decade has made its way progressively northwards towards the Zimbabwean border. Its detection in buffalo in Gonarezhou in February 2009 spells disaster. Millions of Rands have been spent trying to monitor and control the disease with little effect in South Africa. Although buffalo can be asymptomatic, lions feasting on buffalo can develop alimentary tuberculosis which results in a chronic wasting disease as the animals cannot absorb nutrients from their food. The disease is now seriously affecting the lion population in KNP. In addition buffalos can transmit the disease to cattle by mingling, e.g. at water points, and cattle can subsequently pass the disease onto humans through drinking of unpasteurised milk or consumption of an infected carcass. BTB is highly pathogenic to people, especially in the face of the current HIV crisis. A recent spoor count in Gonarezhou indicated that the lion population is extremely low (an estimated 23 animals in a park of 5000km2). It is important to test the Gonarezhou lion as an indicator of how far the disease has progressed into Zimbabwe and to work out why our lion population is so low.
