Interview with Mark Butcher  of Imvelo Safari Lodges: November 2021

Dennus: Mark how long have you been guiding in Zimbabwe and Hwange National Park?

Mark: Hwange is a place the is  very dear to me I have been work in and around Hwange for nearly than 40 years now.

Dennus: What makes Hwange National Park so specials?

Mark: It's vast nearly 5000 acres it is in the heart of the area we call cosia it is full of wildlife particularly the elephant. Hands down its the Elephants. Zimbabwe and Hwange have the second-largest population of Elephants in Africa.

Dennus: What makes seeing  elephants in Hwange different that other location in Africa.

Mark: One really cool thing about Hwange elephants is they don't have a history of harassment. You can't have a close interaction with elephants in other parts of Africa as you can in Hwange. In Jozi Camp we can get within touching distance give them respect and be very careful.

Dennus: What is the best time of year to see the Elephants in Hwange?

Mark: The dry season, during the dry season Hwange has the highest density of Elephants on the plant.

Dennus: How are the elephants doing in Hwange Nation Park and Zimbabwe?

Mark: One of my favorite things to do is sit around a watering hole for 3 to 4 hour watching the elephants come and go,  then getting out on foot walking with them to see how they live their lives. We do know thay come from vast distances they roam across Hwange to the west into Botswana. We know that large heads of Hwange elephants roam in Chobe in Northern Botswana so we know that it is a very, very important elephant population. Lots of exciting and interesting things about it is we have between 2000 and 3000 elephants born every year. We know that in really, really tough years the natural mortality maybe around 1000 elephants. A lot of the deaths are being caused by lions  hunting young elephants. 

Dennus: What about elephant poaching in Zimbabwe?

Mark: Actually poaching in Zimbabwe is very, very low, in the southern part where we do most of our work we didn't lose a single elephant to poaching. That is really, really exciting for a country that is plagued by Rhino and ivory poaching.  

Dennus: Final thoughts:

Mark: I don't believe there is a better place in Africa to view elephants than Hwange. for anyone who enjoys elephant viewing this is the greatest show on earth and I will stanby that in front of anybody.

Mark Butcher