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Wednesday November 02, 2011
Local News

Stray jumbos invade villages



From MUGINI JACOB in Serengeti, 1st November 2011 @ 12:57,

ABOUT 300 rampaging elephants have invaded three villages in Sedeko ward in Serengeti District, Mara Region and destroyed over 200 hectares of farmland and killed one person, local leaders said on Tuesday.

"Until now the elephants are in the farms and they are grazing on crops like cows. Over 200 hectares have already been destroyed in Mbirikiri, Isarara and Bonchugu villages," Sedeko Ward Councillor Mr Richard Nyakera told this paper.

The stray jumbos have also blocked thousands of villagers in the area from getting outside of their houses at night.

As they destroyed crops, the elephants have also caused the likelihood of many families going hungry after tearing down crops such as maize, millet and cassava, according to Mr Nyakera.

"Nobody dares to get out of his or her house from 7pm (evening).The elephants are scattered in the villages and they have already killed one man," the civic leader lamented.

Latest reports say that the number of elephants has increased sharply in the western Serengeti in the recent months.

Local leaders have always been accusing the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) for allegedly ignoring the destruction caused by the elephants, who hail from the world famous Serengeti National Park.

"If we kill one elephant you will see many TANAPA vehicles flocking into the villages. But when the elephants kill people all we get is an apology, no one comes here," he said.

"People are beginning to hate the authority because of the elephants," the councillor said.

He also accused the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Ezekiel Maige, of being concerned of the value of life of wild animals than that of fellow humans.

"We have heard Mr Maige saying that the government is going to install CCT cameras to monitor the movement of wild animals to prevent them from being killed by humans (poachers).

Why doesn't he also bring similar tools to control elephants from invading people's farms and residencies?" He queried.

Stray elephants remain a major concern for people living in villages which are located near game reserves and other protected areas.

The elephants are at times said to be source of food shortages and underdevelopment in the villages. The government is yet to find a lasting solution to the matter.

TANAPA has recently said that it does not have a special budget to check the elephants' behaviour of invading villages whereas district councils fo the areas where the villages are attacked claim that they do not have the needed resources to prevent the animals from causing mayhem.