Hwange National Park was founded in 1928.[1] It is considered for inclusion in the five-nation Kavango - Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.[2]

In 2011, nine elephants, five lions and two buffaloes were killed by poachers.[citation needed]

In October 2013 it was discovered that poachers killed a large number of African elephants with cyanide after poisoning their waterhole. Conservationists have claimed the incident to be the largest illegal killing of animals in Southern Africa in 25 years.[3][4][5][6] Two aerial surveys were carried to determine the extent of the deaths, and 19 carcasses were identified in the first survey[7] and a further 84 carcasses in the second survey.[8][9] Three of the poachers were caught, arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced. All royal game and elephant poaching offences now have a mandatory 9-year sentence and the supply chain is also targeted.

On or about 1 July 2015, Cecil, a lion who had lived on Hwange National Park for 13 years, was killed.[10] This action spurred widespread social media coverage[11] and a petition calling for Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe to outlaw big game hunting permits.[12] Walter Palmer, the admitted killer of Cecil, had a permit and was not charged with any crime, as all his papers were in order.[13] Authorities in Zimbabwe have said he is free to visit the country. Charges were initially laid against Theo Bronkhorst, Palmer's guide, for "failing to stop an illegal hunt" but these were later thrown out of court.[14]

Two years after Cecil's killing, his son Xanda met a similar fate. Unlike that of his father, Xanda's killing was not termed illegal, though it did provoke outrage.[15][16][17]