Hwange National Park

Hwange National Park, ZW

About

Hwange National Park (formerly Wankie Game Reserve) is the largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe situated in Matabeleland South Province The park lies in the west, on the main road between Bulawayo and the Victoria Falls and near to Dete. This park covers more than 14,600 square kilometres (5,863 square miles) or 1,460,000 hectares and the easiest to reach, both from Victoria Falls and from Bulawayo. Hwange National Park it is reckoned as one of the best-known protected areas in Zimbabwe. The name derives from a local chief named Hwange and in the nineteenth Century Mzilikazi, King of the Ndebele used the area as his hunting territory. Farmers then attempted to breed cattle, but the lack of water and nagana disease spread by tsetse flies and large numbers of lions made life difficult for cattle ranching. It was founded in 1928, with the first warden being by the 22-year-old Ted Davison. He befriended the Manchester-born James Jones who was the stationmaster for the then Rhodesian Railways at Dete which is very near Hwange Main Camp. The large part of the present Park was turned into a Wildlife Reserve in 1928 and in 1949 when the cattle ranch belonging to H.G. Robins was purchased the entire area was declared a National Park. At the time of its proclamation there were few wild animals left in Hwange as they had been widely hunted and only migrated into this area in the rainy season. The creation of approximately sixty artificial water points led to wild animals migrating back into Hwange National Park. The park is part of the 5 Nation Kavango - Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.