Human/wildlife conflict

RURAL communities in Hwange district adjacent the Hwange National Park have been living at the mercy of wildlife where life has been lost while livestock and plants are always at risk of being destroyed in the protracted human-wildlife conflicts that have been ensuing.

Sadly, there seems to be no end in sight to the battles with accusations and counter accusations flying thick and fast as reports of disharmony continue to soar with the increase in population of both humans and animals and the resultant fight for space with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority revealing that a total of 189 incidences were recorded in the first quarter of this year countrywide.

A visit to the district by the Sunday News reveals that there is not even a little enthusiasm among the rural communities that are juxtaposed with Hwange National Park. There is widespread detestation of the park and all that it stands for.

The fact that there are visitors from around the world who visit the park to see the animals and to carry out other activities that benefit the tourism industry and boost the national economy is very far from them as there is nothing more important to them than their livestock and their crops that are at the mercy of the wildlife in the park.

To the communities therefore, the park is there to increase their poverty and nothing more and one will not be far from the point to argue that the communities are not even concerned about the national headache caused by the levels of poaching in the park.

“The communities around here are made to closely guard their animals so that they do not fall prey to wild animals, especially lions that continue to decimate livestock, robbing them of their only source of wealth. We even have villagers who can tell you stories of their brave but victorious fights with lions as they attack their livestock. They however, have scars to show you as well,” said Chief Nekatambe whose vast area is to the North of Hwange mining town.

He said the 189 incidences are from reported cases but it goes without saying that most of the cases go unreported, especially those that are not of a high magnitude and in remote rural areas. Besides, he said, those that now live with the problem such as communities in Chief Nelukoba’s area no longer report some of the cases. They are probably tired and have gotten used to the cold shoulder that they are always getting from the authorities, at least according to the traditional leader.

George Orwell was perhaps correct in 1937 when he opined that all revolutionaries and promises of revolution seem to harbour a secret wish and belief that revolution must not take place. Seeds of anti-revolution seem to be concealed in every revolutionary person and movement.

The era of the spectre of Marxism and Communism once gave hope that the ideological left will one day recover the world from the corruption of the ideological and political right. The left and right divide, ideologically and politically, is itself a pseudo western division in a war that will never even save itself.

Interestingly, the idea of left and right thinking itself originated during the French Revolution in the seating arrangement of the National Assembly in1789.

Republicans and radicals located themselves to the left hand side of the Presiding Officer and the monarchists and conservatives sat to his right to avoid physical fights and uncomfortable proximity to political opponents in a struggle that was about saving the idea of the West and not the fate of the rest in the Globe.

It is not only Ramon Grosfoguel and Giorgio Agamben; even Slavoj Zizek, that one philosopher who is sworn to the idea of the West and the ideology of Eurocentricism, also believes that the Euro-American war against terror and the terror against the West are a fake war.

Political extremists and ideological supremacists in the West are engaged in war against religious fundamentalists and Third World supremacists from the non-West, and the reverse, in a costly conflict of elites that are pretending to be fighting for humanity, and are claiming to be saviours of the

“It’s a problem that the communities around here have long appreciated. It’s nothing new and we do not know how to end it. The issue is that the problem is increasing and we are worried that we may end up being pushed further from our homes. These animals are getting more aggressive than before,” he said.

Mr Mathias Nyoni, a village head echoed Chief Nekatambe’s sentiments imploring the authorities to ensure that the animals in the park are kept away from areas where humans live.

He said the sad thing was that there was no compensation from the park and wildlife department even in cases where animals were killed by lions right in the communities without them straying into the park.

“We have a lot of cases where villagers lost their animals. We report such cases to the National Parks but they hardly take action. We will be lucky if they come to see the amount of damage. In most cases they just come and take the animal and leave us to take care of our carcasses or wounded animals. It is that kind of arrogance that irks us,” said Mr Nyoni.

He added that the lack of urgency that those entrusted with taking care of the animals exhibit was worrying.

“If you want to see them coming just threaten you are killing the animal. They are more concerned with their animals than they are with human life and it’s quite disturbing,” he said.

The village head said about ten cattle were killed

The Western definition of philosophy is in Greek the “Philos” of “Sophos” which is the love of wisdom. Bertrand Russel simplified it to mean deep reflection on life and the world.

It would seem that the Westerners have always had the love of philosophy and veneration of wisdom; which is what all human beings everywhere in the world have had, from the Asians, Latin Americans to the Africans. Deep thought about life and the world, the love of wisdom, is not a Euro-American invention. In actuality what the Westerners have excelled in is the love of philosophy and not the philosophy of love.

The peoples of the Global South on the other while three were wounded by lions in two months in Chezhou Village close to Marist Brothers High School in Dete. He said the lion and two lionesses allegedly belonged to the Lion Research and the lionesses were gunned down by professional hunters, something that sparked outrage from the Lion Research guys and other wildlife enthusiasts. He said in 2014 a Grade Two pupil was killed by a lion while more than 70 cattle were killed within a year because of alleged Lion Research negligence.

“It’s so sad that we are losing livestock to wild animals. But we believe this can be avoided if the Lion Research play its role properly. They have been letting their lions roam around villages and killing livestock in our village willy-nilly.”

Chief Shana who is to the west of Hwange district said although they were not so much in trouble with lions as their northern counterparts, they were in trouble with hyenas, elephants, hippopotamus and even large snakes.

He said herbivores such as elephants and hippos were always destroying crops in the fields while hyenas target small livestock including donkeys.

Snakes, he said, were just scaring and were plenty in areas close to Matetsi although they were not a real danger to human life when not cornered. Chief Shana added that the animals were always leaving them with little to harvest from their fields even when the rains were above average.

Statistics from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority show that from January to April this year