http://allafrica.com/stories/201703130313.html



Zimbabwe: Killer Lion Shot Dead

By Noah Pito


One of two stray lions that terrorised parts of Hurungwe West, killing nine cattle and a donkey over the past two weeks, has been killed.

The animal was gunned down last Thursday during a joint operation between Hurungwe Rural District Council (HRDC) and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials.

HRDC chief executive officer Mr Joram Moyo said killing of one of the two bachelors that had terrorised Wards 15 and 24 over the past two weeks did not mean total relief for the villagers since the other one was still in the wild.

Apart from disturbing villagers from doing their normal daily duties, Mr Moyo said the cats had 'imposed a curfew' on school children who had to dismiss early in fear of the marauding cats.

"Over the past two weeks the lions killed nine head of cattle and a donkey in Wards 15 and 24 (Rengwe and Deve Point 4). As council, we deployed a team of six trained rangers who included some from National Parks.

"The team managed to shoot down one of the two bachelors in Deve Point 4 during the early morning of Thursday while the other one escaped.

"The team is still searching for the remaining rogue lion and we hope they will get it soon," said Mr Moyo.

"There have been reports of villagers retiring to bed early fearing attacks from the marauding cats.

"This has in fact disturbed villagers' normal farming duties with some parents in the affected areas also stopping their children from going to school.

"The presence of the lions in the area has seriously disrupted business over the past two weeks," said Mr Moyo.

Honest Mashoko (49) of Gono village in Deve Point 4, who stays near the spot where the lion was shot down said schools in the area were dismissing children early while some children who walked long distances had since stopped attending classes.

"In fact at our local schools here children are being dismissed at 2pm following the curfew imposed by these killer animals.

"People here believe the lions strayed from nearby Tashinga National Park in Gokwe.

"Last night we did not sleep well.

"The remaining lion spent the whole night roaring at the spot where rangers killed the other one on Thursday morning," said Mr Mashoko.

Mr Mashoko said the most affected villages in Deve Point 4 were Gono, Muzanadzo, Tafirenyika, Mabhena and Mubvumbi.

Business briefly came to a halt at Magunje Growth Point last Thursday afternoon as people, including school children from three schools at the growth point, thronged HRDC offices jostling to see the dead cat in transit to Marongora National Park Camp.

That is a wild area.I think that is near Makuti-my favorite place in the world.

Imagine if people could get their shit together and offer this as a hunt as compensation to the community?

Subsequently dead Lion and the community is still in debt.

Sounds like they need a dentist...

Good call, Andrew!

If I were on safari, and this opportunity came up, I'd be happy to pay some kind of trophy fee to hunt that lion. I'd have some awesome photos and the community would have some cash.

If one could import that lion trophy, value would go up fast. If that were the case, losing some cattle and donkeys would not be an issue!

http://allafrica.com/stories/201703280143.html



Zimbabwe: Second Rogue Lion Shot Dead

By Noah Pito


One of the two stray lions that killed 12 cattle and four donkeys in Hurungwe West over the past five weeks, has been gunned down. The killer lion was shot dead around 9pm last Friday after Hurungwe Rural District Council (HRDC) engaged a professional hunter to kill the elusive predator that had imposed a "curfew" on villagers in Ward 24. The lion is one of adult males that strayed into Deve Point 4 area (Ward 24) last month before killing nine cattle and a donkey in the space of two weeks.

HRDC organised a joint operation with the National Parks and Wildlife Authority to kill the cats.

The team of rangers only managed to kill one lion, while the other escaped.

The runaway lion continued to terrorise the area and killed three cattle and two donkeys by last Friday.

The shooting of the cat was accompanied by wild celebrations in Deve Point 4 where villagers said order and normalcy had been restored.

Of late, in Deve Point 4 where both lions were gunned down, some villagers had resorted to penning their cattle and donkeys in kitchen huts and tobacco barns, to secure them from the ferocious cat.

Others without such option were now sleeping close to cattle pens using bonfires to scare away the rogue lion.



Mr Honest Mashoko (49) of Gono Village in Deve Point 4, who lives close to the spot where the lion was killed, said peace had now been restored in the area since villagers could do their normal duties without any fear.

Apart from disturbing villagers from doing their normal daily duties, Mr Mashoko said the rogue lion had continued to roar almost every night, patrolling the villages, thereby imposing a curfew on schoolchildren who had to dismiss early in fear of the marauding cat.

"The area had turned into the lion's territory, the reason why people had resorted to using kitchen huts, barns, or even bedrooms as cattle pens," he said.

"That was the only way left to secure our livestock. Others who had no choice had to sleep at the cattle pens with huge bonfires to scare away the lion. It had become dangerous to send children to school although we continued to do so.

HRDC chief executive officer Mr Joram Moyo said it was council's duty to ensure that problem animals in the communities were dealt with, particularly for the safety of life and property.

"It is our mandate as council to ensure that problem animals are quickly dealt with each time they stray into our communities," he said.

The terror lion was aged about seven years and weighed over 200 kilogrammes.

Apparantly that option has been considered several times over the years and I sold killer Leopard hunt some years ago and at a very reasonable price..But in most instances more animals or people could be killed before the hunter could get there. Also in many cases the hunter is not caplable of the hardships involved in killing a killer animal..I learned from my one experience to never do it again although the Leopard was killed, my hunters was a sissy and created all manor of problems.

Ray,

Apparently that isn't unusual. I told the Zim PH I was going with him and the trackers for my leopard. He told me he was glad to have me along but nearly all of his hunters had opted to stay back at the car rather than going into the bush for a cat that may only be wounded and extremely irritated. I told him I paid for it and I was going to make certain I would kill it if it was not dead.
Like you, I love the excitement of the dangerous game hunt.

Oh noooo, not poor Henry, and now James too.