Chapter 18
Sport hunting of elephant in
Zimbabwe: a case study of
Kanyurira Ward in Guruve district
Dale Doré^1 and Ivan Bond^2
ABSTRACT
The Communal Area Management Programme for Indigenous Resources
(CAMPFIRE) allows communities to benefit from the management of their
wildlife resources. A number of rural district councils, acting on behalf of
local communities, have been granted the legal authority to manage wildlife
within their communal areas. In Kanyurira Ward, which lies in the Zambezi
Valley, the council entered into an agreement granting a safari operator the
sole right to hunt a certain quota of animals in a defined wilderness area that
is rich in wildlife. The community manages this area by conserving both the
habitat and the wildlife itself. In return, households are paid a portion of the
revenue earned from sport hunting, especially for elephant. The people of
Kanyurira, through its Ward Wildlife Committee, have received substantial
financial, technical and organisational assistance from donors and non-
government organisations.
INTRODUCTION
As human settlement expanded within the communal areas of Zimbabwe,
people came into conflict with wildlife. Wild animals, especially elephant and
buffalo, damaged crops and livestock and threatened the life and limb of
people. Increased settlement, on the other hand, threatened wildlife through
the loss of habitat and by subsistence and illegal hunting. In response, the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management initiated CAMPFIRE,
the Communal Areas Programme for Indigenous Resources (Martin 1986).
Common Names Part of the Management Degree of Scale of Geographic
resource used transformation trade range
African Elephant, Elephant Wild High International Large
Nzou
18sporthunting.P65 317 22/12/2004, 11:05