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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
ABOUT 70 elephants have invaded six villages in Dombolefu Ward under Bulilima District posing a threat to the community’s water source. The elephants have reportedly consumed most of the water in Mathambo Dam which is a water point for community members in Village 26 area.

Villagers occasionally fetch their drinking water from the dam while their animals drink from the same point.

Bulilima Rural District council chairperson, who is also the area’s councillor, Morgen Ndebele, said pupils who attend Mathambo Primary School were now using longer routes to school out of fear of the jumbos.

“Six villages are the worst affected by the elephant invasions. Children are now walking about 10 kilometres to get to school instead of the usual five kilometres.

“The elephants have not attacked anyone but as a safety precaution children now use a longer route in order to avoid running into the big animals in bushy areas,” said Ndebele.

He said the elephants were seen roaming around bushy areas in the afternoon.

Ndebele said the dam, which had been invaded by the elephants, was located about a kilometre from homesteads.

He said villagers occasionally collected their drinking water from the dam when their borehole broke down. He said the elephants’ presence has caused water challenges for their domestic animals.

“These elephants are coming from Mabhongwane Game Park which is in the district. They have become a menace to villagers each year.

The elephants were first spotted within the district in small numbers but were increasing. About 70 elephants were spotted at the dam on Monday,” said Ndebele.

He said villagers were concerned that the elephants could invade their fields now that the rainy season was approaching.

“Some people have started ploughing and once the crops sprout the elephants will destroy boundaries surrounding fields thereby creating a path for cattle and donkeys to feast on the crops.

“If the crops mature, the elephants will move in and devour them,” he said.

Ndebele said the elephants were destroying the villagers’ major source of income by destroying fields as they depended on farming.

He said the fence to the game park needs to be restored to reduce or end the attacks from the jumbos.

Villagers from the district often sleep in their fields guarding their crops against the elephants when its harvest time. They use fire and beat drums to scare the animals away.