Zimbabwe will pursue various strategies in the short-term to raise 5 million U.S. dollars for wildlife conservation in Hwange National Park where more than 100 elephants died recently due to cyanide poisoning, an official said on Friday.

The poisoning, suspected to have begun in May, was only discovered last month because the mega-park is in reduced anti- poaching patrols.

The poisoning of the jumbos by poachers jolted the Zimbabwean government which then established a trust fund to mobilize funding for conservation in the 14,650 square-kilometer park, the third largest in Africa.

The park has about 45,000 elephants against a holding capacity of 14,600 and operates with a paltry 50 rangers against a requirement of 500.

Board member of the Wildlife Ecological Trust Fund, Major Mahlangu told Xinhua that they had lined up a number of initiatives including a fund-raising dinner on Nov. 28, running a wildlife conservation promotion with a local mobile phone company and introduction of a grey elephant day in the first quarter of next year to raise the 5 million.

The aim of the trust fund was to raise 10 million dollars, although 5 million dollars was required immediately, he said.

The board member said the dinner was initially scheduled for Nov. 13 but had been postponed after stakeholders complained about short notice.

He said during the envisaged grey elephant day, people in the country would be asked to dress in grey and donate a minimum of one dollar for wildlife conservation in Hwange.

"This will be done in remembrance of elephants that were poisoned in the wildlife park," he said.

Funds raised would be used to address immediate needs such as procurement of patrol vehicles, sinking of more boreholes and resuscitation of half of the watering holes that were currently down, he said.

Mobile communication network and employment of additional staff will also be looked at, he said.

"There is no network coverage in most areas of the park particularly in the area where the elephants were poisoned. So part of the money raised will be used to address the issue of network coverage," he said.

Several poachers have been arrested in connection with the poisoning, with two of them slapped with 16-year jail terms each. Endi

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