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Clement Mukwasi and Adelaide Moyo Chronicle Reporters
A 65-YEAR-OLD pensioner was on Wednesday gored to death by a jumbo on the outskirts of Victoria Falls as he was walking to the Forestry Commission compound at dusk.

Elphas Masuku, who was a Forestry Commission pensioner from Chief Mvuthu’s area, in Victoria Falls, met his death while he was walking with two other people, a man and a woman. Maxwell Makwinya, 27, who is Masuku’s neighbour, and an unidentified woman, managed to outpace the jumbos but Masuku was killed by one of them.

Witnesses said an angry herd of elephants were disturbed by trucks on the main road and charged towards the three villagers along a dust road in the Fullar Forest which leads to the Forestry Commission compound.

Bekithemba Ngwenya, who is the Conservator-in-Charge of the Forestry Commission district of Hwange, said Masuku had retired from the commission after serving the institution for 35 years.

“I can confirm that Masuku was killed by an elephant on Wednesday evening. He was a pensioner who had served the commission for 35 years. He was coming from Victoria Falls town in the company of two people when he met his death. I suspect he had come to the compound to collect his property from the house he used to occupy while working for the Forestry Commission.

“It’s so painful that a person who spent the whole of his life working for the commission in the forest would be killed by an animal at such an advanced age,” he said.

Ngwenya warned villagers on the dangers of walking through the forest at night. He said the number of elephants that patrol Fullar forests has increased in the past few days.

“We’re having a lot of elephants in Fullar forests these days. I appeal to members of the community to desist from walking in the forest at night,” he said.

Mathew Muleya, the vice chairman of Hwange Rural District Council, said that a hunt has been launched for the murderous jumbo.

“We understand that the commission has launched a team to identify and gun down this elephant. It’s unfortunate that someone has died because in the past few months, we had carried out awareness campaigns focusing on the avoidance of animal-human conflict,” he said.

Acting police spokesperson for Matabeleland North province, Assistant Inspector Mandlenkosi Ndlovu, said police received a report about the incident

“We can confirm that we received a report in which one person from Lupinyu died from injuries inflicted by an elephant,” he said.