The Sunday News
Richard Muponde
SUBURB closures or gated communities are usually associated with high value properties owned by public figures who are willing to pay association fees to maintain the neighbourhood and for centralised security.
Victoria Falls residents, who might soon be living in enclosed suburbs, will not be doing so for glitz and glamour but as a last resort to keep away unwelcome visitors — elephants.
Councillors in the resort town are mulling erecting electric fences to enclose suburbs to ward off herds of elephants which have gone on the rampage, destroying tuckshops, precast walls and emptying swimming pools as they quench their thirst.
An elephant drinks up to 200 litres of water per day and eats plus or minus 180 kilogrammes of vegetable matter.
The elephants have reportedly left a trail of destruction in the town, uprooting water taps, Zimbabwe National Water Authority and council water-points and destroying vegetable gardens with the most affected area being Mkhosana suburb where hyenas are also reportedly patrolling the streets at night.
No hyena attacks have been recorded so far but buffaloes account for the highest number of injuries in the resort town.
However, what has riled residents is the destruction left by the marauding herds of elephants with reports that the jumbos have invaded Chamondo, a bushy area around Chinotimba and Mkhosana suburbs.
In Mkhosana, the herds have left a massive trail of destruction where they destroyed precast walls, vegetable gardens, fruit trees and tuckshops, after being attracted by the smell of groceries.
The jumbos are said to be roaming the streets in the suburbs day and night, which has put the lives of residents at risk.
Victoria Falls town clerk Mr Christopher Dube on Thursday revealed that council was looking for partners to enclose Mkhosana and Chamabondo suburbs and a dumpsite popularly known as Masuwe with electric fence.
“We are engaging NGOs such as Friends of Victoria Falls and Environment Africa so that we fence off Mkhosana suburb and our waste management site where the elephants frequent. We are still to consult residents because some might refuse to have the suburbs fenced as it will appear they are now living in a camp. We think if we erect an electric fence once they get shocked they won’t come back again. These animals damage water points and precast walls in suburbs which is dangerous for our people,” said Mr Dube.
“We can’t say they should kill all the elephants that come into the town because we are a tourist destination and tourists would want to see these animals. Zimparks is trying its best to manage the situation but let them move a pace up.
“All the same, elephants are a problem this season, as some of the water sources have dried up and vegetation dwindled in the parks so they will be coming to feed on fruit trees in suburbs.
“We have also discovered that there is a waterhole which is leaking near the Victoria Falls Farm School and they are coming to drink from there. We are talking to Zinwa so that they repair the water point so that the elephants go straight to the Zambezi River.”
His sentiments were echoed by the Victoria Falls resident’s association chairperson, Mr Morgan Gaza Dube, who said the elephants were a menace and urged Zimparks to find a lasting solution and regularly drive them away.
“Zimparks is aware of the problem and we have engaged them like we used to do in the past. They told us that if we see the elephants we should alarm them so that they come and drive them away. However, the herds coming into the suburb have become too many and need regular sessions to drive them away,” said Mr Dube.
He said Victoria Falls was not in a national park as has been always said, but surrounded by two parks, Chamabondo and Victoria Falls and added that there was no excuse of leaving the jumbos roaming the town.
“We are neighbours with the animals and we have learnt to co-exist with them. However, as the situation stands we are no longer neighbours but the elephants are now living in our town.
“We hope to come up with a better and lasting solution on the matter. They have become a danger to motorists and schoolchildren. We, however, appreciate efforts by Zimparks but they are not enough,” he said.
On Thursday, Zimparks rangers shot and killed a lone bull which had terrorised residents after it destroyed a tuckshop in Mkhosana.
Residents said each time elephants roamed into residential areas in the past, they called parks rangers who would come and fire shots into the air to scare them away, but it looked like the jumbos were no longer intimidated.
Contacted for comment, Zimparks acting regional manager for Western Division Mr Midwell Kapesa said the influx of elephants in Victoria Falls was seasonal and had to be managed when it starts.
“The authority will continuously drive the elephants back into parks to safeguard the lives of the people. We are also now using chili guns to drive them away as they are now used to our old methods of firing gunshots into the air to scare them away. Chili guns have proved to be very effective” said Mr Kapesa.
He said Zimparks was working together with other stakeholders in the resort town to manage the situation and urged communities to report the presence of any dangerous wild animals to the authority and nearest police stations or posts.
