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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) rangers were on New Year’s Eve forced to gun down one of the menacing elephants that were terrorising Hwange town residents and destroying crops.

One of the residents Nokuthula Nyambayo said they were living in fear because of the elephants which were roaming the town.

She said the elephants were coming to their homes at night.

“The elephants are coming to our houses almost every night and as such we are having sleepless nights.

“The jumbos are destroying crops and we fear they will one day attack people,” said Nyambayo.

She said the rangers shot one of the elephants on New Year’s Eve.

“The rangers came the following day to skin the animal. On the same evening, the elephants came again. The rangers had told us that this was likely to happen saying it was the culture of elephants if they lost one of their own,” she said.

Zimparks spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo could not be reached for comment on her cell phone.

Human animal conflict is common in Hwange due to its proximity to Hwange National Park.