Melinda Kusemachibi
Following a number of incidences of human-wildlife conflicts that have claimed lives of humans and left the community stressed, a Chipinge traditional leader has confirmed that they once turned to traditional healers to intervene and solve the matter.
He said after community suspected that the wild animals present in the area were linked to some mysterious forms of behavior, they resolved to seek divine intervention to get to the bottom of the matter.
“The community suspected that the wild animals in the area were linked to mysterious occurrences and they resolved to seek divine intervention to come up with a solution of how best we can resolve the issue,” said Mapungwana.
He also added that the healer came and said that it is not linked to any spiritual matters.
“The healer came and did what he did and he said that it is normal and not connected to any mysterious beliefs. He assured us that wild animals were just roaming around just like what other wild animals would do,” added Mapungwana.
The jumbos had become a burden to the community.
The elephants were reportedly seen by villagers drifting towards Ngungunyani forest under chief Mapungwana. The issue of elephants is a distress especially in Chipinge South alone especially in Chanyamukwakwa village where they killed two women and a child recently.
Cases of human elephant conflict are on the rise because of competition for resources between the elephants and humans.