The Sunday News
Vincent Gono in Hwange
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.
“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 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 a total of 198 incidents of wildlife conflict incidents were throughout the country.
Zimparks acting spokesman Mr Simukai Nyasha told Sunday News that most reports received were on lions (43), followed by hippo (40), elephants (37), crocodiles (35), buffaloes (25), hyenas and zebras both had (7), leopards (3) and the least was bush pigs (1).
He said human and wildlife conflict during this period resulted in the loss of 21 human lives, 16 people were killed by crocodiles and 4 people were killed by elephants while 1 person was killed by buffalo.
Zimparks also received 16 reports of humans that were injured by wildlife. These included 5 people injured by crocodiles, 3 people injured by hippos, 5 people injured by buffaloes and 3 people injured by leopards.
During the same period, a total of 131 livestock were killed by lions, hyenas, leopards and crocodiles.
Livestock killed included 68 cattle, 6 donkeys and 57 goats.
“According to the reports received, most of the livestock losses were due to lion predation with 64 cattle, 4 donkeys and 42 goats being killed by lions and therefore 110 livestock deaths out of 131 deaths were caused by lions.
“Human and wildlife conflicts reports received countrywide reveals that elephants, zebras, hippopotamus, buffaloes and bush pigs are causing crop damage in agricultural communal areas adjacent to wildlife areas,” said Mr Nyasha.
He added that as part of efforts to ensure there was peaceful co-existence, Zimparks have established human and wildlife conflict contact persons in hotspot areas and a dedicated team at each park which deals with problem animals called the Problem Animal Control (PAC) Unit. “As soon as a report is made, the reaction team will respond. Zimparks is also doing awareness programmes teaching people on animal behaviour with the ultimate goal of helping reduce human-wildlife conflict,” he said.
Zimparks, he added, was engaging researchers to explore ways of mitigating against human and wildlife conflict.
Environment expert who is Environment Africa country director Mr Barnabas Mawire said the disharmony between human and animals was becoming more pronounced now because of the increase in population and the fight over land which was a fixed resource.
He said there was need to strike a balance where affected communities at least get some form of compensation so that they do not completely divorce themselves from protecting the wildlife.
“There is a need for both parties to work on the attitudes and perceptions towards each other. The communities should be involved in the work of protecting the wildlife. A situation where they believe the wildlife is causing poverty among them should not be allowed because in such a scenario they can work together with poachers to trap and kill wildlife.
“There is need for engagement where Zimparks engages the community. You will find that they know more about animal movements and animal behaviour – their routes and corridors more than what most people think and if they are not happy they are very easy to be corrupted and used by people with sinister motives,” said Mr Mawire.
He added that apart from community projects such as roads, clinics and halls, CAMPFIRE should at least do some evaluation with a view to fairly compensate the affected villagers to give them a feeling of ownership.
He said the general idea where rural Africans have little sympathy for wildlife and see animals purely in terms of their meat value and where they consider wildlife, particularly large mammals, as threats to their safety and food security could only be rectified through campaigns aimed at making them appreciate the value of wildlife not only to them but to future generations.
“This adverse perception is particularly strong near protected areas where the presence of wildlife populations inflicts daily costs on local communities, which can erode local support and tolerance. A negative attitude towards reserves and wildlife exacerbates conflict and undermines conservation efforts,” added Mr Mawire.
Hwange Rural District Chief Executive Officer Mr Phindile Ncube concurred that the main cause of human-wildlife conflict worldwide was the competition between growing human populations and wildlife for the same declining living spaces and resources.
He said the transformation of forests, and other ecosystems into agrarian areas or urban agglomerates as a consequence of the increasing demand for land, food production, energy and raw materials, has led to a dramatic decrease in wildlife habitats.
He said the other issue was the over commercialization by Zimparks and forestry where they were giving out land for conservancies, lodges and other activities without due diligence to the effects of it on peaceful co-existence between people and wildlife.
The implications, he said, was that the animal habitant was disturbed and they then move out and attack communities’ livestock.
He said there was need to go back to the drawing back and re-look at the settlement patterns, re-gazette parts of forestry and check on how best harmony could be created.
“I believe there should be a deliberate Government policy to decommercialise these heavily commercialised areas under forestry and Zimparks. There is no problem in promoting eco-tourism but I believe we should do so without necessarily being greedy.
“Careful planning is required where resettlement patterns are revisited so that we at least minimize on the incidences of human wildlife conflicts. As it is there is little effort one can put to avert the cases,” said Mr Ncube.
According to Zimparks, one of the main consequences of the loss of habitats is the decrease in natural resources available for wildlife. The destruction of natural vegetation around protected areas and in some cases the total disappearance of buffer zones force wild animals to feed in cultivated fields and community livestock.
