Zambezi River Basin

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The Elephant Population
In Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, the
elephant population has grown so much in recent
years that it now exceeds the carrying capacity of
its habitat in these countries, creating problems
of overpopulation and habitat destruction (SADC
and SARDC 2008). For example, the elephant
population in Namibia grew from 7 769 in 2002
to 12 531 in 2006. Tanzania has greater carrying
capacity but also has a larger population of
elephants. The elephant population in Tanzania
increased from 92 453 in 2002 to 141 000 in 2006
(IUCN, African Elephant Database 2002 in SADC
and SARDC 2008).
The health of millions of people in
the Zambezi basin is under threat due
to an increase in the occurrence and
spread of water-borne, vector-borne
and respiratory diseases resulting from
climate change related events (Boko and
others 2007 in SARDC and HBS 2010).
As a result of rising temperatures, it
is predicted that the malaria-carrying
female Anopheles mosquito will spread
to parts of the region where it has not
been found before by 2100 and there
will be longer seasons of transmission
in other areas (IPCC 2007 in SARDC and
HBS 2010). New malaria areas include the
southern highlands of Tanzania. In the
Caprivi Strip in Namibia, malaria cases
rose from 380 500 in 1993 to 444 000 in
2003 while in Zambia cases rose from just
below 2 million in 1990 to 4.5 million in
2006 (SARDC and HBS 2010).
Million cases
1990 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 1996 1994 1992
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Malaria Report, 2008
Reported malaria cases in Zambia
Figure 2.10
Human Health in a Changing Environment
Elephants drinking water.
© SARDC