Hwange National Park is one of Africa's finest havens for wildlife and is home to vast herds of elephant, buffalo, zebra and has the largest concentration of giraffe in Africa. It is also home to many predators and endangered species plus very large and varied birdlife.The park is situated on the main road between Bulawayo and the world famous Victoria Falls, one of the wonders of the world, and is bordered by

the Kalihari Desert. A small local branch of the society is based in the town of Hwange which is just outside the park boundary and the local members pay regular working visits to the park and carry out tasks such as helping build boreholes, road grading and anti-poaching patrols.

Much of the poaching in and around the park consists of wire snares which are placed in such a way that any animal which passes by gets caught in the snare and is either left to die a slow painful death or is killed by a predator while held in the snare. Some animals manage to break the snare free from the tree that it has been attached to and wander around with some horrific wounds until they die. The attached photographs show a small team, who work unpaid, to try and dart any animal which has been snared, cut the animal free and try to treat it and release it back to survive in the bush.

	Among the many animals which have been found snared in recent times are elephants, lions, zebra, buffalo, impala, hyaena and with much hard work and very limited resourses the team managed to treat them and allow them to survive. The Hwange Conservation Society is also very much involved in research work in the park and has supplied equipment to
help with the collaring of hyaena, lion and African wild dogs. We have helped with studies into the elephant behaviour and population in the park which is estimated at 30,000.

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