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Leonard Ncube, [email protected]

CLOSE to 300 people were killed by wild animals and 308 injured between 2019 and last year as human-wildlife conflict cases continue to rise countrywide.

According to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), 697 cattle, 1 113 goats and 118 donkeys were killed during the same period.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife held a human-wildlife conflict and co-existence indaba during the recent Zimbabwe International Trade Fair to encourage stakeholders to come up with initiatives to address the human-wildlife conflict.

It was agreed at the meeting that there is a need for collaboration and partnerships to address the problem.

Zimparks director Dr Fulton Mangwanya said the situation on the ground is not good for people.

“Sixty seven people were killed in 2022 and the number decreased in 2023 to 50 and the injured were 65 in 2022 and 85 in 2023. 

“We have 283 people who were killed from 2019 to 2023 and 308 injuries. 697 cattle, 1 113 goats and 118 donkeys were killed during the same period. This is not good for our people,” he said.

Dr Mangwanya said human- wildlife conflict is real hence the need to engage as communities.

“The whole country, people are actually clashing with animals but something can be done and it can only be done if we get support and relevant mitigations,” he said.

About 28 percent of Zimbabwean land is reserved for wildlife, which is divided into national parks, botanical reserves, botanical gardens, sanctuaries and safari areas.

Zimbabwe has six trans-frontier conservation areas with Kaza being the biggest and these help in creating corridors for animals to roam around and prevent conflict.

However, illegal settlements and infringement of these spaces by humans, competition for scarce resources, human encroachment into protected areas, illegal fishing, subsistence hunting, vandalism of perimeter fence, increase in human and animal population, climate change, change in land use patterns and poor livestock husbandry practices are some of the major causes of conflict.

Human- wildlife conflict is any interaction between humans and wildlife that results in negative impact on the human, social, economic and cultural life on the conservation of environment.

“We have got a challenge that both sides are expanding. Wildlife is increasing in number and human population is also increasing but unfortunately Zimbabwe is not growing. So with this climate change, the situation is bad as both side encroach and animals and humans are increasingly coming into contact for key resources,” said Dr Mangwanya.

He said there was a shortage of 1 200 rangers and that gap needed to be filled by technical aspect. “Zimparks has the mandate to look after wildlife in Zimbabwe for the present and future generations and we need collaboration with diverse partners and integrated land planning across the country to deal with wildlife conservation,” said Dr Mangwanya.

According to the recent Kaza elephant survey, Zimbabwe’s elephant population in Hwange National Park is over 65 000, which is three times its carrying capacity and the whole of Zimbabwe has more than 100 000.

“This is disaster, especially with impending drought and there is need for projects to change community livelihoods so that they take ownership of resources, Dr Mangwanya said.

Hwange Rural District Council environment and natural resources officer, Mr Nxolelani Ncube, said wildlife movement is very intense making issues relating to human- wildlife conflict complex, especially in areas adjacent to national parks.