Melinda Kusemachibi
FaFlo (Fauna and Flora) Zim a Civil Society Organisation aimed at promoting an ecologically rich, clean and healthy environment said the ever increasing number in cases of human- wildlife conflicts have become a cause for concern in Zimbabwe.
The remark was made by FaFlo Zim director Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa following the trampling 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.
“Human-wildlife conflicts and most particularly human-elephant conflicts are a serious cause for concern in Zimbabwe. The annual number of people trampled to death by elephants 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,” said Nyamukondiwa.
He went on to say that vandalism of game reserve fences are the major driver 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 piece of legislation which is archaic and requires urgent amendment,” said Nyamukondiwa.
However, Nyamukondiwa said his organisation suggests some possible practical solutions to curb the conflicts.
“The responsible authority should erect or repair vandalised perimeter fences. At FaFlo Zim we are encouraging people to construct what are known as beehive fences.
“Again, 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.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed the Chipinge incident that happened on January 01, 2022 resulting in the death of two people.
Circumstances on the issue are that Shylet Muyambo (22) and her six months-old child Remind Serengwana were trampled to death by an elephant on New Year Day in Kushinga B village on way from her sister Charity Muyambo’s (25) place in the same village.
At around 1800hours they had left Charity’s homestead heading to their home and on their way, they came across an elephant which attacked them after which they sustained deep cuts on the stomach.
Charity Muyambo and her husband Simbarashe Kumbula (27) heard the noise of the trumping elephant and went to investigate only to find the two lying lifeless on the ground.
The issue was reported at Chisumbanje police station that same day before the bodies were taken to St Peter Mission Hospital for postmortem.
In the past years, there have been reports of wildlife trespassing into communities and wreaking havoc on people’s properties.
In December 2021, two men from Chiredzi, one a fish poacher and a game scout were attacked and killed by a buffalo.
In 2020, a 35 year-old woman was gored to death by a stray buffalo while fetching firewood in the bush in Chibuwe.
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’.
