Jumbos wreak havoc in the North

Villagers of Okatseidhi in the Otsandi area of the Omusati region have expressed concern over extensive crop damage by elephants.

Martha Nuunyango, one of the affected villagers who spoke to New Era last week, said the elephants have been destroying all their crops since last month.

“Our people at the village home are terrified because of those elephants. My nuts, beans and other types of vegetables are all eaten up, while my fence was destroyed many times,” she lamented.

Nuunyango said the nearly 20 elephants spent an entire night uninterrupted in her crop field.

“We had a bumper harvest, but the elephants came and destroyed everything,” she continued.

Another villager said she was terrified since nine elephants came straight into her crop field, and she could hear them while she was about to sleep.

“I was so traumatised. I was alone in the house, and I could see them moving closer to my house. I am sure they were attracted to the watermelons. I am very disturbed by this because I know the compensation from government is not enough, and they have their criteria to pay people,” she added.

A herd of elephants reportedly destroyed many mahangu fields in Omusati last month.

Two weeks ago, an Angolan man died after being attacked by an elephant in Otjorute village in the Ruacana area inside the Uukolonkadhi Conservancy, said Romeo Muyunda, spokesman of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.

The victim was among a group of people trying to chase the elephant away from a field.

Muyunda said elephants strayed into those villages in search of water and greener pastures.

The ministry is now trying to help the residents manage the situation since the elephants live around the area.

Muyunda added that the ministry urges communities and property owners in human-wildlife conflict-prone areas to put in place preventative and mitigation measures.

“The ministry does not compensate; it only provides financial assistance of N$1 000 to those affected,” he noted.

He then cautioned farmers against taking matters into their own hands. “We wish to take this opportunity to urge farmers and communities not to take the law into their own hands, but rather to report incidents to the ministry for an amicable solution,” Muyunda pleaded. “Since 2019, the ministry has administered 33 claims for loss of life, of which 15 were in 2022 and four in 2023, with crocodiles, hippos and elephants being the main culprits,” environment minister Pohamba Shifeta last year told the National Assembly during an update on the current status of human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in the country, adding that 54 people were injured.

Last year, the ministry also revealed that they had paid over N$2.9 million for livestock losses; N$2.6 million for crop damages; N$640 000 for injuries, and N$3.3 million for loss of life from 2019 to date.

Within the same period, more than N$14.7 million was paid to conservancies to offset HWC losses to their members.