The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Sunday News Correspondent
RESIDENTS of Emganwini suburb in Bulawayo have reported the sighting of a lone zebra that is believed to have recently escaped from Matopos National Park.
The gallivanting zebra which was first sighted by local residents has been turning heads as they wander through the area. The exotic animal was first sighted and reported to authorities last Wednesday after it was spotted in a bushy area of Emganwini, said Mr Rodney Ncube, a resident who spoke to Sunday News.
“Zebras running loose in an urban set up is something we’ve never seen, that’s for sure,” he said.
Mr Ncube said the animal appeared to be lost and traversing through the bushes in the neighbourhood. Another Emganwini resident, Mr Paul Mnkandla also confirmed the sighting. Mr Mnkandla said he was driving when he spotted the zebra in the bushy area and stopped to have a look at it.
“I was driving along and then I notice that there’s a zebra walking in a bushy area and grazing, and if you think I’m kidding, I’m not,” said Mr Mnkandla.
Mr Mnkandla said the zebra appeared friendly as it grazed and slowly moved along./
“It was off in the distance, as I got closer, it looked like a horse. I got closer still and I happened to be talking to somebody on my mobile and I’m like ‘I think I see a zebra’ and they were like no way, I’m like ‘Nope that is a zebra,’.”
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo confirmed that the sighting of the zebra had been reported to the authority and its origins had been established.
“We have established indeed the Zebra is there it should have escaped from Matopos National Park,” Mr Farawo revealed to Sunday News on Thursday.
He said efforts were underway to capture it and return it to the park.
. @RealSimbaJemwa
