Roundup: Zimbabwe wildlife agency bemoans rising human-wildlife conflict

Zimbabwe's wildlife agency has decried rising cases of human-wildlife conflict involving mainly elephants in areas adjacent to game reserves.

"No day passes without Zimparks offices receiving a report of elephants that stray into communities that reside adjacent to wildlife areas," the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

It said the just ended Christmas holiday had seen communities dedicating more of their time to protecting their crops from elephants as opposed to spending quality time with their families.

In one of the incidents in remote rural Gokwe north west of Harare, a total of 18 elephants were found in the community on Dec. 27 and a report was quickly made to the wildlife agency which deployed a team to manage the situation, it said.

Spokesperson for the wildlife agency Caroline Washaya-Moyo said the community was living in fear and was concerned that their crops could be destroyed by the jumbos.

"As a result, the authority has scaled up efforts to carry out awareness campaign programs with the communities on how to behave around elephants," Washaya-Moyo said.

She said the elephants are suspected to have travelled from Matusadona National Park in northern Zimbabwe.

In a related development, two cheetahs that had earlier preyed on goats nearly attacked an eight-month-old-baby who was playing at her parents' homestead on Dec. 23 in Chiredzi South but the community managed to chase the cheetahs.

After separating the two cheetahs with one fleeing into nearby farms and another one trapped in a tree, the same cheetah that had fled returned four hours later and the community was left with no option but to kill it in order to save their lives, Washaya-Moyo said.

She said rangers from the wildlife agency were working with the surrounding community to guard against the wild animals.

In the same province, two lions are reported to have recently attacked and killed three cattle in a village in Save Valley Conservancy where park rangers and officials from the Conservancy are now deployed to manage the problem.

Washaya-Moyo said what was concerning is that the cattle were attacked while in the cattle pen and she warned that predators such as lions, hyenas and cheetahs were devising new hunting strategies and opting to attack softer targets.

She urged communities to immediately report the presence of wildlife in their area to Zimparks offices, police or the local traditional leadership.

Meanwhile, a Zambian poacher was shot and killed during the Christmas holiday in Hurungwe Safari Area after Zimparks rangers on patrol exchanged fire with four suspected Zambian poachers, Washaya-Moyo said.

The other three escaped and one shot gun, eight live rounds and one impala carcass were recovered, she said.

Zimbabwe, which possesses abundant wildlife in its game reserves, faces a huge challenge of poaching by both locals and foreigners mainly from neighboring Zambia. Endit