22 men arrested for stealing elephant meat

Victoria Falls Reporter
October 26, 2010



A total of 22 men from Chikandakubi village in Jambezi area, Hwange District, have been arrested for allegedly skinning an elephant and stealing the meat.
The dead elephant, whose trophy was valued at US$22 000, had been shot and killed by suspected poachers who ran away leaving the carcass.
The villagers, namely Lainos Shoko, Luka Tshuma, Lafon Moyo, Zibani Ngwenya, Shalani Sibanda, Lawrence Ncube, Johane Tshuma, Dadani Nyoni, Charles Ngwenya, Elvis Tshuma, Prince Makani, Trust Majenya, Fandison Mudhimba, Fosani Nyoni, Wiseman Mathe, Zamani Ngwenya, Libety Siakami, Mxolisi Ncube, Future Ncube, Euzani Chuma, Jobane Kenneth and Daka Mili, all of Chikandakibi village, appeared briefly before the Victoria Falls resident magistrate Mr Richard Ramaboea on Friday.
They were facing allegations of contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act (removing any part of the animal from any land).
The villagers were remanded to 30 October out of custody on their own cognisance.
Mr Ramaboea told the prosecution to “individualise” the charge so that the court knows what each villager allegedly stole.
It is the State case as presented by the prosecutor, Mr Takunda Ndovorwi, that on 20 October at about 9pm, five gunshots were fired by unknown people in the Fuller Forest area in Chikandakubi.
The villagers heard the shots, teamed up before going into the forest to find out what had transpired.
They found a fresh elephant carcass in the forest area, which had five gunshot wounds.
The two tusks and the tail had been removed.
The villagers then skinned the elephant and took the meat to their homesteads without authority or permission from authorities.
The case came to light when the police and parks officers attended the scene and observed that the villagers had skinned the elephant and taken the meat to their homes.

Sounds like a fair thing to do? Punish the villagers who kept the meat from rotting and being totally wasted and forget about the poachers who made off with the Ivory and tail.

Surely someone at SCI or OoA has to know something about this?

Thanks Kathi for this and all your posts.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

Yep...sounds like something our legal system would do.