HARARE – AT least 19 hippos have died of unknown causes over the past three months in the Mid-Zambezi region, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has confirmed.
In a statement, ZimParks spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo said samples have been taken to carry out tests aimed at establishing the cause of the mysterious deaths.
“Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is saddened to report the deaths of 18 hippos in the Sapi Safari Area and one in Chirundu over the last three months.
“The Authority is carrying out investigations with various partners to ascertain the cause of deaths. Samples have been taken and sent for lab testing and we are waiting for the results,” Farawo said.
The deaths are not the first that animals of the same species have died in numbers following an almost similar cause of death.
At least 100 elephants died in Hwange National Park in weeks in 2023 because of the El Nino induced drought.
The disaster was even worse in 2019 when more than 200 elephants died there through severe drought.
