Significant decrease in human-wildlife conflict fa...

Significant decrease in human-wildlife conflict fatalities

ZimParks underresourced to deal with human-wildlife conflict – #Asakhe – CITE — Tinashe Farawo

Zim Now Writer

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has said it has noticed a slight decline in terms of people who have been killed by wild animals compared to the number of people who lost lives from January 2023 to March 2023.

ZimParks’ spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo, said last year 22 people lost lives in the first quarter and this year the number is at 15.

Farawo said last year Zimparks managed to translocate about 95 animals, but this year the authority has already trans-located 150 animals as a way of dealing with human-wildlife conflict within communities.

He said Zimparks has already engaged other stakeholders in fighting human-wildlife conflict.

“We will continue to engage communities, teaching them about animal behaviour, and what needs to be done with certain species. We are always on the ground and we are also working with a lot of Rural District Councils to which we have given appropriate authority, so it’s not only the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority which needs to react to this problem,” said Farawo.

Traditional leaders from Chief Shana’s area indicated that human-wildlife conflict is threatening food security in Hwange District.

Jabula Village Head, Amos Tolani, said: “We are getting inputs under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa program and our crops have done exceptionally well in the 2022/23 cropping season but the challenge now is the baboons which are ransacking our fields, threatening food security,” he said.

He added that relevant authorities must also make sure that there are one or two scouts or game rangers in every ward so that there is a swift reaction if wild animals are spotted in communities.

Meanwhile, the pending results of the Kavango Zambezi Elephant Aerial Survey are expected to give tangible evidence to calls by Southern African countries for the international community to lift the ban imposed on the trade of ivory and other wildlife species.

The international ban imposed on the trade in wildlife products and species in Southern Africa has seen Zimbabwe’s elephant population ballooning to around 84 000, exceeding the country’s carrying capacity of 45 000.