Stray jumbos cause havoc

Masvingo Bureau
December 25, 2009

A HERD of nearly 30 elephant straying from the adjacent Save Valley Conservancy have destroyed homes and crops in Dzoro communal lands on the border between Zaka and Chiredzi.

The elephants reportedly destroyed dozens of homes and vast tracts of the early-planted maize crop causing widespread fear amongst impoverished villagers allocated land in the area under land reform.

Some of the hit villagers who spoke to The Herald have called on the authorities to intervene and contain the rampaging jumbos.

"The elephants have been terrorising us for the past three to four years and every year they destroy our homes in search of food," said Mr Tinos Ruzete from Dzoro.

"At the moment there are scores of people whose homes were destroyed and we really do not know what to do with these elephants that we suspect are roaming free from Save Valley Conservancy, which borders the area."

Mr Ruzete said there was need for the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to come up with a permanent solution to end the destruction caused by the elephants over the past three years.

He said most people in the province were allocated land in elephant territory and something should be done to avert continued loss of property and crops to these marauding animals. Another villager, Mr Peter Mandiki, expressed fears that most of the affected farmers might not produce enough food to sustain themselves if the elephants continue to destroy their crops.