Bhejane Water For Wildlife Update September to October 2025 Much has happened on the Water for Wildlife front since our update in August. With temperatures souring well above 40 degrees Celsius, our teams have been extremely active ensuring that life giving water keeps flowing for the many animals that depend on it. Game counts, system upgrades and the inevitable repairs and maintenance dominated our efforts over this period. The biggest news however is the return of the rains. We have been blessed with some early storms across the landscape and the change in the bush is rapid and dramatic. Forecasts suggest that these are not anomalies, and indeed the season has started, with rain expected for the foreseeable future now. This is always a momentous occasion for us as it signifies another successful season of providing vital Water for Wildlife. The shear relief on show by the animals is something to behold, rejoicing after months of challenge. The land responds almost instantly, with the bare mopane trees sprouting new green leaves almost overnight and bursts of colour return to the dusty arid landscape. The herds too have already started to move off. A recent trip through Hwange yielding less than 10 elephants over 3 days and almost 200 kilometres. Compared to the drought of last year, this year has felt like a breeze and we remain hopeful for another year of fantastic rain. KAZUMA NATIONAL PARK Some big news coming out of Kazuma recently. Roan pan is now the very proud owner of a viewing platform! A massive thank you to Andrew Brown, Trevor Lane, Colin Wilson and Nigel Theison for this incredible addition to the Park. It’s been a weird season for Kazuma this year. Whilst game viewing during the dry months is always exceptional, it has been a little quieter compared to previous years. We have put this largely down to the great rains that we had in the 2024/2025 season and the abundant natural water that remained almost the entire season. The reduction in animal sightings may also have something to do with regular visits by a pack of wild dogs. Chaos descends on the depression when these guys are around and spook a lot of the plains game into the trees. The Bhejane annual game count on the 6th of September further represents a quieter year for Kazuma. 2024 (a drought year) saw a grand total of 3070 mammals counted across 32 different species. 2025 recorded 1396 mammals counted across 26 different species, the second lowest count in humble 5 years. A very vivid example of the effect that the amount of rain has within the wild landscapes, and the movement of animals. A massive thank you to all the counters and we are very pleased to say that this is the first year that we have had all pans counted. This data is hugely helpful in understanding the pressure that the waterholes come under during the dry months. With only a couple of minor repairs required at Roan Pan, our water infrastructure has held up well. With the rains now upon us, we can safely say that we have made it through the dry season unscathed. ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARK – CHAMABONDA In complete contrast to Kazuma Pan National Park, the Chamabonda has been teeming with wildlife over the last couple of months. With little natural water in this area, our pumped pans are the only source for animals to drink. This has made for exceptional game viewing with herds of elephant and buffalo a daily occurrence. The roan that appeared a couple of months ago seem to have moved off and haven’t been sighted recently. However, we are very happy to report a decent herd of eland frequenting the vlei, a good 30 strong! The 2025 annual Bhejane Game Count further reflected the incredible wildlife haven that the Chamabonda has become over the last decade or so. 2025 counted a total of 2998 mammals across 24 species, up about 150 from last year, and the largest number of mammals counted to date. Again, a massive thank you to all the counters, with every pan in the Chamabonda and Kalisosa Vlei ecosystems counted this year. The last couple of months have seen some work being done to the roads within the Chamabonda. Our great desire is to have access to the vlei all year round. Whilst this has mostly been the case, the terrific storms of last rainy season certainly did a number on the roads in. Mike Karassellos, came to the party and has done wonders on the access road in from the Chamabonda gate. In return for his being allowed to cut and bail the grass on the vlei, his grader has been hard at work ensuring the roads remain accessible. From a water for wildlife point of view it’s been a great couple of months for us. One of the systems at Chamabonda 1 had a breakdown. Sadly it was the better performing of the two systems there. With it not providing water for just under a week, combined with the significant drinking pressure this pan gets, the level of the dropped significantly. Whilst we attended to the problem quickly and had everything back up and running, we have struggled to get the pan to fill. However, with a couple of decent storms in late October, the pan is looking good again, and the drinking pressure has reduced drastically. Other than that, all our other water points have held up well and managed to deliver more water than was being consumed. Pans remained at healthy levels, and the herds descended day after day to quench their thirst. The Chamabonda has become a prime wildlife ecosystem over the years, a living testament to how important water is and the life that it brings to an area. Each year we continue to see changes with animals shifting further up the vlei, and sightings of new species. Over the next few years we hope to boast