Rampaging elephants kill 60 in Zim

Harare – Sixty Zimbabweans have been killed by elephants so far this year, as a conservation success story has led to increased conflict with humans, a government spokesperson said yesterday.

With 100 000 elephants, Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest population after Botswana and about one-quarter of the elephants in all of Africa.

Unlike in much of the world, where poachers have killed off the animals for their tusks, Zimbabwe’s elephant population is growing at about 5% a year.

“In some areas, elephants are moving in herds and have devoured everything in the fields and are now moving into homesteads, forcing community members to retaliate, in the process injuring some of the elephants,” government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said on Twitter.

“The injured ones have become aggressive and uncontrollable. The issue of human and wildlife conflict has become quite emotive. This year alone, 60 Zimbabweans have lost their lives to elephants,” he said.

Mangwana said elephants killed 72 people in 2021.

Tinashe Farawo, of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, warned of “disaster” unless elephant numbers were reduced. “The threat is likely to increase as we move towards the dry season when the herds will be moving in search of water and food,” he said.

Farawo said rangers have been deployed to cull the most dangerous elephants.

Conservationists say that Zimbabwe can support about 45 000 elephants, which require vast grounds for grazing. Trade in elephants is banned internationally, but the government is considering contraceptives or hunting to manage the herd. –