adminGeorge Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Nine poachers have so far been arrested at Tokwe-Mukosi Dam, while several nets and a home-made canoe were impounded following the launch of a joint police and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority clampdown to curb poaching at Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police and ZimParks recently intensified patrols following a sharp spike in poaching at Tokwe-Mukosi.
Poaching was threatening fish breeding for the provincial Command Fisheries programme at the dam, forcing Government to call for the beefing up of security.
Police Officer Commanding (Operations) in Masvingo Assistant Commissioner Edias Tembo said on Monday that the anti-poaching teams at Tokwe-Mukosi needed a boat for them to adequately patrol the vast water body.
“We have so far arrested nine poachers at Tokwe-Mukosi where we also recovered five nets and a home-made canoe during our anti-poaching operations,” he said.
“The patrols are being conducted jointly by the police and parks officials, but the major challenge at the moment is absence of a boat for our teams to carry regular patrols at the lake.”
Besides beefing up security at the dam, the anti-poaching teams were also conducting awareness campaigns urging people in adjacent communities to refrain from poaching.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Josaya Hungwe was among the first senior Government officials to raise alarm over poaching at the dam.
Online Reporter