Snakes, lions terrorise villagers

By Vincent Gono recently in Matetsi

PEOPLE who were resettled in Matetsi near Victoria Falls are living in fear of snakes after four people were recently bitten in a week, amid revelations that a white farmer who used to keep the reptiles let them loose when he went away.

There are also reports of lions and elephants killing livestock and destroying crops respectively in the area which was predominantly a conservancy before the land reform programme, launched in 2000.
Two of the people who were recently bitten by snakes were taken to St Patrick’s hospital in Hwange before being transferred to Hwange Colliery hospital where they were treated and discharged.
The other two were treated using traditional medicine and were never taken to hospital.
“I was bitten by a snake last week and I was rushed to St Patrick’s Hospital from where I was transferred to Hwange Colliery Hospital where I was treated and discharged. I noticed when I was at the colliery hospital that I was not the only one. In fact, there were two of us from the same locality. It is no longer surprising that people are bitten by snakes in Matetsi because they are so many. We are told a white farmer who used to keep the snakes in his conservancy, let them loose when he went away and we are living in constant fear of the dangerous reptiles whose numbers has grown considerably with some of them imported species,’’ said Mrs Nelia Mpofu of Matetsi.
She said snakebites were a common thing among the people who live in the area close to the conservancy.
Fortunately, Mrs Mpofu said, no deaths had been recorded yet.
The headman for the area, Mr Over Ndlovu, confirmed that there were reports of snake attacks but said the most serious problem was that of lions and elephants that people are not allowed to kill by the Parks and Wildlife Department yet they were finishing up their livestock.
“Of course there are reports of snakebites. It is true that there are so many snakes in the area since it was a conservancy prior to it being made a resettlement area. There are a number of white people who used to keep snakes in their conservancies some of which were let loose when they left. But the fact is that snakebites are not as rampant as cases of lions devouring livestock in the villages. Recently a man lost six cattle in three days to the lions and they are not even afraid of people,’’ said the headman.
He said Government should consider culling to control the population of elephants and lions if people in the communal areas were to venture into serious farming without facing problems of destruction of crops by the giant animals.
The councillor for Ward One in the Mvutu area of Matetsi, Clr Elias Mzamba, confirmed the problem and urged the parks and wildlife authority to deal with the problematic animals and reptiles.
He said the area where people were resettled used to be a conservancy that was dominated largely by white farmers who kept a variety of animals they left in the hands of black farmers when they went away.
However, the farmers who took over the conservancies have knowledge of other animals but they know nothing about snakes.
“We took over the conservancies that were once run by white farmers at the beginning of the land reform programme. We have the knowledge to keep the animals but however the problem is that the fence that used to divide the conservancy area and the communal areas was cut by some unruly elements of our society. As a result we are hearing complaints that people are being bitten by snakes that used to be kept in the conservancies and were let loose by the white farmers while lions are feeding on their livestock,’’ said Clr Mzamba
However, there seems to be a conflict of interest between the farmers with some saying they want to keep their livestock while others argue that they have to keep wild animals as they were now into conservancy farming.
Farmers who went into conservancy farming with their livestock are the ones facing problems with the animals and the councillor advised that people should take to conservancy farming seriously if the true benefits of the land reform programme were to be realised.
He said it was illogical for people in the conservancies to complain about the problem of livestock being attacked by lions but instead should complain if their livestock were causing problems to the lions.
Clr Mzamba said the real problem was that of lions that stray into the communal areas that were not part of conservancies and feed on the people’s livestock as the fence that used to separate the conservancies from the communal areas and protect people and livestock from marauding animals had been removed.