http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?.../February/Thursday16


Zim elephants haunt North East village


KUSHATHA TABENGWA
Correspondent


FRANCISTOWN: A dam in Mbalambi village, North East District has become a curse to residents because it attracts a herd of elephants from Zimbabwe, which leave a trail of destruction in their journey to and from the watering hole.



The small dam is supposed to be a watering source for domestic animals but this is no longer the case as the jumbos have been frequent visitors. Onalennna Seteng, a field assistant in the department of Veterinary at Mbalambi said this week that since he started working in the village in March 2009, elephants along the Botswana/Zimbabwe border have been a menace.

"They destroy the fence and break down the poles that hold the fence.

Sometimes when you walk in the evening, you can meet them going to the Mbalambi dam to drink water," Seteng said. He asserted that the fence destroyed by elephants is very dangerous to cattle. He explained that cattle get entangled in the destroyed fence and fail to walk, forcing owners to kill or burn them. "The best option is to kill them or burn them (cattle trapped by the fence) if they are found very late because they would have died," Seteng said.

"Those that are burnt are compensated at P400. This year it is worse because the elephants have come during the time when people have ploughed and they destroy the plants at the fields.

"Where the elephants pass plants hardly survive," he lamented. He said the elephants stay in Zimbabwe and come to Mbalambi to drink water and destroy plants in the fields. "I have reported this to the wildlife department and the response I got is that what they can do is to scare the elephants but not to kill them. I go to work at around 6pm and sometimes, I get scared thinking that I might meet them because they come to drink water at around 5pm," said Seteng. He said everyone in Mbalambi knows elephants, even young children. He added that Mbalambi is a small village and is not a place for elephants.

Bernard Mbalambi, the village headman is not happy that their cattle are killed after they have crossed the border to Zimbabwe. "When elephants come to our village, they destroy the Zimbabwean border fence.

"Our cattle then cross to the other side and the department of veterinary kills them because they fear they could spread Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

We last saw the elephants last week, now they are in Goshwe, our neighbouring village. Luckily the department of wildlife (officers) are there to control them,Ó Mbalambi said.

Department of wildlife officials in Masunga said that they were not aware of the elephants troubling Mbalambi residents.