Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
|
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613958362365952 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Maseya, Eddington Joseph |
| author2 | Swart, Sandra |
| author_browse | Maseya, Eddington Joseph Swart, Sandra |
| author_facet | Swart, Sandra Maseya, Eddington Joseph |
| author_sort | Maseya, Eddington Joseph |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136254 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:44:24.894Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136254 Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 Maseya, Eddington Joseph Swart, Sandra Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History. Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Maseya, E. J. 2026. Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/91b520f0-385f-4fdc-ae85-9ea54280987e Guided by a multispecies and environmental history framework, this study reconstructs the intertwined histories of humans and elephants in Gonarezhou in the southeast of Zimbabwe over fifty-five years, from 1965 to 2020. It examines how political change, economic priorities, and shifting conservation ideologies continually reshaped the terms of coexistence between the two species. Central to this inquiry is the recognition of elephants not as passive figures within human history but as active participants whose movements, behaviours, and ecological impacts influenced land use and conservation policy. To understand these interactions, the research integrates archival sources, oral histories, and scientific data, offering a multi-scalar understanding of human and elephant agency. The study first investigates how relations between people and elephants evolved during the UDI period (1965-1975), when wildlife policy, commercia and subsistence agriculture, and land control converged in the Lowveld. It then explores the impact of the Rhodesian civil war or Second Chimurenga (1971-1979), asking whether wartime conditions stimulated the ivory trade, how that trade affected human-wildlife conflict, and whether elephants in the region exhibited behavioural shifts in response to violence and ecological disruption. It also considers how local communities adapted to these pressures. The first decades of black majority rule (1980-1999) offered both continuity and change in human-wildlife coexistence under evolving conservation frameworks. The thesis then examines how ZANU-PF's land redistribution programme (2000-2009) altered the ecology of Gonarezhou National Park and the welfare of its elephants, while reassessing the effectiveness of the CAMPFIRE model. Finally, the study addresses the most recent decade (2010-2020), analysing how corruption and governance failures have shaped conservation practice and affected the long-term prospects for sustainable human-elephant coexistence in Zimbabwe. Doctoral 2026-04-29T12:58:27Z 2026-04-29T12:58:27Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136254 en Stellenbosch University 278 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Maseya, Eddington Joseph Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title | Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title_full | Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title_fullStr | Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title_short | Social and Environmental History of Elephants and Human Groups in Southeast Zimbabwe, c. 1965-2020 |
| title_sort | social and environmental history of elephants and human groups in southeast zimbabwe c 1965 2020 |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136254 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maseyaeddingtonjoseph socialandenvironmentalhistoryofelephantsandhumangroupsinsoutheastzimbabwec19652020 |