Crocodiles kill people, livestock

Chronicle Reporter
February 25, 2010



WILD animals are causing havoc in Lupane District as they are attacking people and livestock as well as destroying crops.
The animals include crocodiles, hyenas, elephants and zebras.
A crocodile killed one person while several others have been attacked while fishing in the Bubi-Lupane Dam.
The finance chairperson of the Kusile Rural District Council, Councillor Kenny Mpofu, said crocodiles had also killed a number of livestock.
“The dam is infested with crocodiles, very big crocodiles, and they are causing problems. In December, a 14-year-old girl was killed while two adults were attacked while fishing,” said Clr Mpofu.
“Other than the crocodiles, we also have a lot of hyenas in the area and they have killed quite a number of animals. They prefer donkeys, but they have also killed a lot of calves.”
The chairman of a fishing co-operative licensed to operate at the dam, Mr Brighton Moyo, said the crocodiles were from Bubi River, “which has always been known to have crocodiles”.
He said they usually attacked people who fish while standing in the water.
Clr Mpofu said wild animals had also destroyed a lot of crops in Lupane East, where in some cases, they had wiped out entire fields.
In the Gwampa area for example, a herd of 34 zebras has destroyed a lot of crops while herds of elephants were also causing havoc.
Zebras were first spotted in Gwampa in November last year and it is suspected they came from the Lupanda Forest. They have caused havoc in Ndamuleni, Madojwa and Gwaluba.
“The zebras are giving us a big problem. We haven’t quite found a way of dealing with them because they are not listed as problem animals, so we cannot just shoot them. We have asked hunters to shoot the elephants but they just come for a day and tell us that they have failed to locate them, so it’s a problem,” he said.
“Elephants have been a problem for a long time and villagers used to scare them off with fire and by cracking whips, beating tins and drums but they have now become used to it. You can make as much noise as you want but they just ignore and feast on the crops.”
Mr Mlamuleli Ncube, from Gwampa, said the zebras were causing a lot of havoc since they always moved in large numbers.
He said they had developed an appetite for crops, especially maize.