Greetings!
Did you know that the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area is the largest terrestrial conservation landscape on Earth, spanning five countries and supporting some of Africa’s most iconic wildlife?
Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust operates at the heart of this extraordinary landscape, working with communities, governments and conservation partners to assess and conserve the vital wildlife corridors connecting protected areas across the region.
In this edition of Bushtalk, we share some of the many ways your support is making a difference: from empowering rural women and advancing wildlife forensic science across Africa, to protecting threatened vulture populations and responding to wildlife emergencies in the field. We’re also pleased to share how our wildlife forensics work is strengthening both national and regional conservation law enforcement. You’ll find more in the newsletter below.
Your continued support makes this work possible.
From all of us at VFWT — thank you. We are enormously grateful to have you alongside us.
For Wild Africa,
Jessica Dawson
Executive Director
COMMUNITY LIVELIHOODS Turning Skills into Opportunity for Rural Women
Last year, women from Mvuthu Village gained practical skills in food processing, safety and value addition through Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust’s Agribusiness Value Chain Training. This year, that training took an important step forward with the completion of a new Women’s Food Processing Hub in Kachechete Ward.
Equipped to safely process, package and market locally produced goods, the hub gives women entrepreneurs the tools to turn their skills into sustainable businesses, increase household incomes and strengthen the local economy.
RESEARCH & MONITORING Tracking Vultures, Identifying Threats
With the breeding season well underway, our research team is monitoring 111 white-backed vulture nests across the region, tracking breeding success and building a clearer picture of population trends and how these threatened birds are faring. Alongside nest monitoring, the team collected biological samples to investigate diet, assess exposure to lead, and screen for previous and active exposure to avian influenza.
Recent fieldwork also saw four vultures safely captured for health assessments, with two tracking devices redeployed to continue gathering information on their movements and survival. Together, nest monitoring, tracking and health assessments are helping us understand how vultures use the landscape, the threats they face and, importantly, how best to protect them.
Our vulture research and monitoring supports evidence-based conservation across the region
Take a quick peek behind the scenes > |
WILDLIFE RESCUE & CONSERVATION:
The Last Lioness of Hippo Creek
For many years, the Hippo Creek pride was resident in the northern section of Zambezi National Park. By 2026, only a single adult female remained. When tour guides spotted her with a cable snare around her neck, ZimParks, VFWT, tour operators and conservation partners launched an immediate search.
Our veterinary team successfully darted the lioness, removed the snare, treated her wounds and fitted a GPS satellite collar to monitor her recovery.
Tragically, just two days later, the collar indicated that she had stopped moving. A field team responded and found that she had been caught in a second snare and had died.
The incident is a stark reminder of the devastating impact of wire snares on Zimbabwe’s wildlife. In response, partners carried out an intensive two-day snare sweep, removing several snares from the area. VFWT will continue working alongside ZimParks and conservation partners to monitor lions, remove snares and respond rapidly to threats across this landscape.
Black Rhino Return to Matusadona National Park
In early June, 17 black rhinos were successfully translocated to Matusadona National Park, marking the return of the species after more than a decade and an important milestone for rhino conservation in Zimbabwe.
VFWT was proud to support this landmark initiative alongside conservation partners. The translocation is the first step towards re-establishing a viable black rhino population in Matusadona, supported by continued monitoring, protection and collaboration.
Strengthening Connectivity Across the KAZA Landscape
Large carnivores depend on connected landscapes to move safely between protected areas, making wildlife corridors vital for healthy populations, genetic diversity and reducing human-wildlife conflict.
As a Focal Area Lead within the KAZA Carnivore Sub-Working Group (KCSWG), VFWT recently facilitated a stakeholder workshop for the Hwange–Victoria Falls landscape. Government, tourism, research, conservation and community representatives came together to map existing activities within priority carnivore corridors and identify critical gaps.
This work is an important step towards formal recognition of priority corridors, enabling better coordinated management, stronger collaboration and more effective mitigation of human-wildlife conflict across the wider KAZA landscape.
WILDLIFE FORENSICS Building Africa's Defences Against Illegal Timber Trade
Illegal logging and the trafficking of protected timber species remain significant threats across Africa. In July, two members of our laboratory team joined scientists from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi in Madagascar to strengthen the region’s ability to tackle these crimes through DNA forensics.
Hosted by the University of Antananarivo and organised through the African Wildlife Forensics Network, the five-day workshop covered the full forensic process — from timber sample collection and DNA extraction to species identification and interpretation of results.
By strengthening this expertise across African laboratories, scientists can more accurately identify illegally traded timber, support law enforcement investigations and provide robust evidence for prosecution — while building a stronger regional network to combat wildlife and environmental crime.
Wildlife Forensics Supports Successful Prosecution in Kariba
Training and capacity building matter when they lead to real conservation outcomes. Earlier this year, our Wildlife Forensics team assisted the Zimbabwe Republic Police Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit (MFFU) with a suspected illegal hunting case from the Kariba area. A dried tissue sample that could not be visually identified was submitted to our laboratory for forensic analysis.
Using DNA sequencing, our scientists identified the sample as impala, with a 100% match to internationally recognised reference sequences. This evidence contributed to the successful prosecution of the case, with the accused sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment and fined US$3,000 — demonstrating the growing role of wildlife forensics in strengthening conservation law enforcement.
Welcome to the team
We are delighted to welcome Wayne Cumming as VFWT’s new Operations Manager. Wayne brings more than 15 years of conservation leadership experience across protected area operations, project coordination, finance and compliance. Based in Victoria Falls, he will help coordinate and support our conservation, research, veterinary, community and field teams across the Victoria Falls and wider KAZA landscape.
Become one of our Friends of the Wild Monthly Giving Community
Your support helps keep this work moving forward. If you haven’t yet donated this year and would like to support our conservation programmes, every contribution makes a difference.
You can also join our Friends of the Wild Monthly Giving Community with a recurring gift. Regular support gives us the certainty to plan ahead and respond where the need is greatest. To join, visit our donation page here and select “Recurring Donation” under “Type of Donation”.
Gorgeous Views
Lastly, we leave you with some inspiring views of the Victoria Falls gorge captured recently by our team on the ground while documenting the annual Zambezi Cycle Challenge.
