Melinda Kusemachibi
Conflict between people and animals is one of the main threats to the continued survival of many species in different parts of the world, which is also a significant threat to local communities, and if solutions to conflicts are not adequate, local support for conservation also declines.
Conflicts between wildlife and humans seem to be far from over in Chipinge district with many clashes being occasionally reported.
Over the past years, there have been reports of wildlife ‘trespassing’ into communities and causing havoc on people’s properties, crops and livelihoods.
Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) is now the center of discussion in Chipinge district after a scare in Mt Selinda area following the alert of five Jumbos roaming around the area.
The elephants were seen by villagers moving towards Ngungunyani forest under Chief Mapungwana.
The jumbos are generally aggressive, the reason why Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) Rangers responded rapidly to the distress call and so far one of the giant animals has been killed.
The issue of elephants is a distress especially in Chipinge South alone in Chanyamukwakwa village where they killed two women and a child recently.
Chief Mapungwana born Anias Mapungwana said the elephants have become a serious issue in their area.
“Elephants have become a burden to us in our community. They are destroying our crops and we are appealing for help because the issue has reached another level,” said Mapungwana.
Most of these animals are said to be straying from Save Valley Conservancy while the stray animals get killed under Problem Animal Control (PAC) by a team from Zimparks stationed at Chipangayi, Chipinge Safari Area.
Fauna and Flora Zimbabwe (FaFlo Zim) director Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa said that that Human-Elephant conflict (HEC) results in the loss of precious life of humans.
“HEC results in the loss of precious lives of humans. Wildlife authorities often resort to shooting down elephants. We urge Zimparks to use non-lethal means in managing human-wildlife conflict. Zimparks and other conservation organizations should increase awareness and encourage communities to grow elephant repellent plants such as chilli and pepper. As soon as we get resources, we are going to help communities affected by HEC erect beehive fences as a way of bringing peace between human and elephants,” said Nyamukondiwa.
He added that HWC are a serious cause for concern in Zimbabwe.
“Human-wildlife conflicts and most particularly human-elephant conflicts are a serious cause for concern in Zimbabwe. The number of people trampled to death by elephants annually is disturbingly high.
“Resource competition between growing human populations and elephants is a major cause of human-elephant conflict. People end up encroaching into game reserves thereby increasing human-wildlife interactions,” he added.
He went on to say that vandalism of game reserve fences are major drivers of human-wildlife conflict and at most there is no compensation for the victims.
“Vandalism of game reserve perimeter fences by villagers and sometimes late responses to emergency situations by authorities also contribute to the rise in human-wildlife conflict fatalities.
“The gap in our wildlife legislation is that there is no room for compensation for human and wildlife victims or their families. We are still using a colonial pieces of legislation which is archaic and requires urgent amendment. Zimparks should be adequately funded so that they can immediately react to distress calls. Zimparks and other key stakeholders should do more awareness campaigns to educate people living in areas where human-wildlife conflicts are prevalent,” said Nyamukondiwa.
Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said they continue to urge people to work hand in glove with the authority.
“Primarily because of the increase in number of wildlife population, human elephant conflict increases. We are encouraging people to work with Zimparks while at the same time they should also try not to walk during the night and we are also ensuring they at least know animal behavior when they encounter one. Extended process is needed but financial cost might limit it. We are planning to come up with a policy called Human Wildlife Policy,” said Farawo.
According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), human-wildlife conflict is ‘any interaction between humans and wildlife that results in negative impacts on human, social, economic or cultural life, on the conservation of wildlife populations, or on the environment’.
Reasons that trigger the conflict include population expansion where people end up clearing new land for building homes and crop farming. Massive land clearance destroys land that might have been initially reserved for grazing or for animal habitat.
Also climate change has led the Valley of Chipinge experiencing severe droughts that leads to food shortages on the part of animals
For humans in Chipinge and other communities that surround wildlife reserves, the conflict seems to be permanent since wildlife authorities in Southern Africa have no clear policies on compensation for the people’s loss to wildlife attacks.
In another incident, a jumbo trampled to death of a 22-year-old woman and her six months old baby in Kushinga B village under Chief Musikavanhu in Chipinge on January 1, 2022.
