Elephants and woody vegetation around water in Hwange National Park

The book describes the influence of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach) on Baikiaea plurijuga dominated woody vegetation around natural and artificial watering points in the northern part of Hwange National Park (HNP), Zimbabwe. The interaction of plants and animals in savannah ecosystem can bring changes to the environment. The elephants in HNP interact with woody vegetation around natural and artificial watering points causing structural changes to the vegetation with distance from the water sources. The distribution of elephants in the dry season in HNP is mainly influenced by surface water availability. Natural watering points in the Park contain water during the wet season but are usually dry during the dry season. Elephants therefore aggregate in huge numbers around pumped artificial watering points which contain water throughout the year. Artificial watering points are often sacrificed/damaged by elephants more than natural watering points especially within ≤ 1 km radius from the water points. The elephant induced vegetation damage with distance from watering points have implications on the management of game water supply and elephant population in HNP.