Local News

‘Fence us from wild beasts,’ plead Makuyuni teachers
By Arusha Times Reporter


In Makuyuni when a teacher warns his students that ‘It is a jungle out there,’ he may mean exactly that. An irate wild beast could be stomping outside the classroom.

“At my school, elephants are common apparitions and recently they have always been seen hovering outside dormitories and classrooms, day or night,” David Leringa the Headmaster of Manyara Ranch School stated.

Leringa’s views are shared by Christopher Shirima the head teacher for Nahita Primary School who admits that both pupils and teachers at his institution live in fear of wild animals because buffaloes are regular visitors at the premises.

Apparently, both school heads feel there is a need to fence the premises but point out that the danger will still remain when teachers or students get out of class heading home since most of them live far from their schools.

Simon Benedict a tacher with Makuyuni Secondary was killed by an elephant last month and the animal reportedly went on to kill another villager on the same day. Late last year a raging buffalo tore a pupil to his death.

Makuyuni located between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks is essentially an animal passage (corridor) and from March to around June every year wild animals in the vicinity venture around the schools.

According to the locals, wild animals, especially around this time of the year, are proving to be big problem among education circles in Makuyuni ward of Monduli and other surrounding precincts. Already a teacher and student have been killed by various such beasts as concern keeps increasing among others.

“This is the mating period, which normally occurs between March and June of every year around this time animals, especially male species become ferocious because they have to compete for mates with other males,” said an elderly man in Makuyuni.

Lions, Buffaloes and Elephants are said to usually fight among each other competing for females and victors retain their ferocious rages throughout the mating period fearing attacks from others and would normally attack any animal or human they come across with.

As a result the area gets strewn with carcasses of other animals killed by stronger species in the process. This may also attract another dangerous species, scavenging hyenas for instance who more often than not may also attack human beings’.

“Also when it rains most animals move from dew covered bushes to clearer grounds such as roads and paths where they usually come into confrontation with human beings,” said another villager.

Speaking at Kwa-Daudi road junction in Makuyuni last week, teachers and students alike appealed to members of the community to assist local schools in erecting fences around premises to keep off wild animals.

This was contained in their statement to mark the International Education day held at Regional Level in Makuyuni-Monduli an event which was organized by the Njiro based, education organization, ‘Maarifa-ni-Ufunguo.’

Israel Laizer the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Maarifa ni Ufunguo who spent more than a week in the area studying problems facing pupils and students at Makuyuni said the wild animal scare was the major concern among local residents in the area who got interviewed.

Jonas Kuiga the Monduli District Education Officer in charge of Documentation said they have already started taking precautions by dispatching rangers in the affected areas to help protect people from animals.