RUAHA NATIONAL PARK
(Project T20053)
The Ruaha National Park in the southern highlands of Tanzania is one of the
less well-known parks in the country, but it boasts the second largest
population of elephants in East Africa and a unique collection of wildlife
and forest resources.
These projects aim to assist the conservation of the Ruaha ecosystem which
has been severely damaged by heavy poaching. This has caused the elephant
population in the area to fall by 65 per cent over the last 15 years, from
44,000 animals to fewer than 15,000.
To protect the wildlife, the management capacity of TANAPA in Ruaha
National Park is being strengthened. The five-year WWF programme began in
1991 to improve operational efficiency and reduce elephant poaching. This
will be achieved through the establishment of essential park infrastructure
and law enforcement systems.
By 1989 nearly all the large tusked animals had been destroyed and the few
remaining herds were dangerously compressed into the relatively safe area
surrounding the park's headquarters. The international ban on ivory,
together with a vigorous anti-poaching exercise, has temporarily reduced
depredations, but black-market ivory is reappearing and poaching continues
to be a serious threat.
WWF received a commitment in 1990 from the Cote d'Or Foundation of a
three-year US$300,000 investment to aid anti-poaching initiatives in the
Ruaha National Park. One of the first steps of the programme enabled park
personnel to monitor the park more effectively by providing transport, road
maintenance machinery, radio communication and camping equipment.
Monitoring by air was made possible through the acquisition of a Cessna
light aircraft, and several new ranger posts are being built throughout the
area.
The question of boundaries poses additional problems for the elephant
population. The Ruaha ecosystem falls under the direction of two separate
management authorities - the Ruaha National Park and the Kizigo Game
Reserve. Even though the park and the reserve are adjacent to each other,
two separate projects manage the entire Ruaha ecosystem.
To give the Ruaha elephants a more certain future, WWF applied for funds to
support an elephant research project which would encompass the entire area,
thus engaging both management authorities in a common goal - the protection
of the Ruaha African elephant.