The Hwange National Park is home to elephants. When going to a safari inside the park, elephants are the easiest to spot. They are almost everywhere. This is not surprising given that there is over population. To date, the total recorded population is at 60,000 when ideally, the National Park (with a total land area of 14,650 sq. kms.) maximum carrying capacity is 32,000 elephants. The over population of elephants is one of the major concerns of the park administrators. Policies and programs to find a way to bring down the population are however close to none.
Over population of elephants in the park affects the resources of the area. An elephant's average consumption of water is 200 liters of water a day and it can drink 100 liters of water at a time. Elephants, having an inefficient digestive system also continuously eats. Having an inefficient digestive system, whatever they eat goes out almost immediately. Thus, elephants are known to spend an average of 18 hours just eating.
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