The Sunday News
Fairness Moyana recently in Binga
ELEPHANTS and baboons are reportedly terrorising Binga residents with some straying into Binga District Hospital where they are stealing food from the wards.
Residents who spoke to Sunday News said they were now living in fear as elephants are spotted roaming the residential areas almost every night. Earlier this year, a man was trampled to death by the animals on his way home.
“We are living in fear of these elephants that now roam freely close to our houses and this has become a common sight especially at night. It’s very risky now to walk from the centre to the residential area at night. In February a man who was coming from town on his way home in the evening was trampled by a herd of elephants that were in the bushes. Zimparks and council have not been effective in dealing with these problem animals,” said Albert Mumpande from Binga.
Meanwhile, patients and health personnel at Binga District Hospital said baboons were wreaking havoc at the health institution destroying infrastructure and stealing from the wards. Staff members are reportedly engaged in running battles with the baboons almost daily.
“These baboons spend most of the day jumping from one roof to another or swinging on gutters and this has resulted in asbestos or tiles on the roof caving or falling off thereby damaging the building. Sometimes they enter the rooms when patients are asleep. We appeal to relevant authorities to assist in dealing with the problem animals,” said a staff member at the hospital.
Expecting women housed at Chipanga ward, a Mothers’ Waiting shelter at the hospital said the baboons were notorious, as they would at times grab pots if left unattended.
“These baboons have a tendency of raiding our cooking area and grabbing pots while on fire especially when no one is close by. Once they take the pots they retreat to a safe distance on top of the roof before emptying contents and dumping the pot on the ground. Authorities should act before it’s too late, we can’t continue to have pregnant women living in fear,” an expecting mother who only identified herself as Ms Luzibo told Sunday News.
Binga Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr Joshua Muzamba confirmed the developments, adding that they were working with the wildlife authority to contain stray wild animals.
“Zimparks is in a better position to answer on what is being done to alleviate the problem. However, we are working with them to ensure that the problem is contained. Yes, occasionally elephants have a tendency to roam into the CBD area but we have not received any complaints to that effect. Binga is generally a wildlife area so there are bound to be conflicts here and there. However, efforts to educate people especially school children on what they should do when they come into contact with wildlife are also underway,” he said.
ZimParks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo said the growing population of elephants and other animals was contributing to the problem.
“The problem of baboons is not unique to Binga people, In Kariba, Hwange and Victoria Falls people face the same problem. We have noticed that local authorities have poor waste management systems which attract these primates. We are saying our animals are overpopulated and they end up straying from protected areas into communities causing damage and loss to livelihoods. We have had an increase in the number of people killed and lives at times.
“We have a lot of elephants that can no longer be sustained in our parks and when they stray in search of food there is bound to be human-wildlife conflict. We have received numerous reports of such conflicts that is why we are saying that we should be allowed to trade so we can be able to manage the populations and reduce human wildlife conflicts,” said Mr Farawo.
