Savious Madanhire
In a bid to improve Gweru tourism activities and increase the GDP, Antelope Park is set to provide a spacious and natural habitat for the iconic Big Five animals of Africa (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo.)
This move comes after the City Of Gweru allocated more land, situated at Mimosa Creek.
Antelope Park is a renowned wildlife reserve and tourist destination and is currently home to the Big Three (lions, elephants, and rhinos), offers a unique opportunity for tourists to witness these majestic animals in their natural habitat.
In addition to its impressive wildlife population, the park also features a snake park, providing visitors with a fascinating glimpse into the world of reptiles.
According to Lovemore Sikwilithi, Antelope Park’s Public Relations Officer, the new location will enable the park to expand its conservation efforts and provide a unique opportunity for tourists to witness the Big Five in their natural habitat.
“I’m so glad we have councilors right here, who have come in to see our place. The reason why we have brought them in is that they did a good job by giving us the other land.
However, at Mimosa Creek where they have given us, we are putting up a fence and building up an ablution block on the other side. We want to put what we call an activity center which will boost up the Gweru income and tourism facility.”
“It won’t take business from Antelope Park because it is still under Antelope Park. We also want to make it a big five-game reserve for the people of Gweru, it will accommodate everyone.
Furthermore, we will be creating jobs for the community, that’s why we have brought the city fathers to witness what we are doing on the ground,” he added.
Councilors, who toured the Park, also expressed their support for the project.
Speaking to this reporter Councilor Marufu of Ward 7, expressed appreciation and encouraged the Gweru community to visit the park.
“We have visited Antelope Park for familiarization as you are aware the land occupied belongs to the city council so as councillors we have come to appreciate what is being done to the Gweru community, country and the world.
“As we finished touring Antelope Park, I urge educational institutions to bring their students to the park to learn about animals and the ecosystem, as they have university level of inter lectures in their narration as we have learned about how they are preserving the ecosystem through keeping animals,” Councilor Marufu added.
The park is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including giraffes, zebras, impalas and wild beasts.
Itai Nyarai the Operations Manager at Antelope Park gave statistics of animals available at the park and also explained the reason why some of them are there.
“Currently here at Antelope Park we have quite several species to see on the game ground, we have giraffes, zebras, impalas, elephants and wild beasts. Those are the common game species to see whenever you go out or when you book a game drive.”
“Besides that, we also have lions which are in enclosures. We have a total number of 43 lions at the moment. Furthermore, we have white rhinos, we got them about two years down the line and Antelope Park is one of the areas in Zimbabwe where we have a major population of rhinos.
We are looking after them very well, about two weeks ago, we had an addition to the population of three rhinos.
So, right now, we have four including a baby rhino, which is showing positive results of the conservation efforts that are being done. Because you know, with rhinos, whenever they are stressed to the environment they won’t be able to breed. So, breeding is an indication that the environment is very favorable for them,” he said.
Nyarai added, “The reason why we have these rhinos is that the population of rhinos is going down and there is a need to conserve them.
They are also at risk to human hands as they are being poached for their horns. So this is a way of curbing the decrease through poaching and also increasing the population at the same point through breading.”
The allocation of the new land to Antelope Park is a significant milestone in the park’s efforts to promote conservation and provide a unique tourist experience.
With the Big Five soon to call the new location home, Antelope Park is poised to become a leading wildlife destination in Zimbabwe.
