adminentering the dense mountain foot vegetation and ran to notify him of the missing livestock.
Makumbe had to leave the little garden for which he was repairing a broken fence in a rush to go searching for the missing animals.
As he walks up the mountain, Makumbe prays the search will not last long as the sun is fast setting and soon it will be dark. Failure to locate the animals would mean risk losing his only form of wealth to the marauding hyenas.
What he fears most is that the animals may be attacked even in broad daylight if they stray more into the hills.
“I must find my animals and take them home otherwise am finished,” he thinks aloud as he climbs a rock to explore the surroundings.
Missing a domestic animal or failure to pen them in a secure kraal in Buhera is now a sure passport to losing them to wild animals.
This problem has now replaced stocktheft, which fortunately is on a decline following increased police presence in the area.
Apart from parts of Chiefs Makumbe and Nerutanga’s areas, the wild animals are also causing havoc in Buhera South villages around Mukuvari, Bhidhiri and Nyashanu Mission areas under Chief Nyashanu.
Villagers say the hyenas, for long known to be a problem in the district, have gone on an overdrive this year a situation they say now requires the intervention of the the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
The hyenas are preying on donkeys, goats and calves.
“Our animals are always in danger of attacks and even the herdboys have to be always on the alert for the animals. Now that we going into the winter period when animals roam freely, there is danger that we are going to lose a number of our animals.
“Many people have lost their animals to the hyenas that are becoming more and more daring. They are now even attacking domestic animals in broad daylight and visiting the villages more often than before.
“The cases have been going up significantly over the months. Only last week a villager lost five goats to the hyenas after thy broke into a pen,” Chenai Murwira of Mukuwari village said.
Another villager, Mr Magopoza Nyikavaranda, said it seems the population of the hyenas in the nearby hills had ballooned so much that the animals no longer have enough food in their environment forcing them to prey on domestic animals.
“There are so many of these scavengers in these hills that they could be running out of food. As such they are being forced to prey on domestic animals. Everyone has now been forced either to build high-rise pens for our goats or construct brick pens that are secure and cannot therefore be breached by the hyenas.
“Loss of animals spells doom for most of us who are battling hunger after another year of crop failure. These animals are our only source of income. In bad years like this one, we exchange the animals for grain or sell to raise money for schools fees,” said Nyikavaranda said.
He said the village was now living in fear of possible attacks on young herd boys.
Headman Mukuwari, Timothy Mubvuregudo, said they had made representations to National Parks to act on the problems but there was no response.
“Imagine being forced to turn part of your home to accommodate the goats for fear of the hyenas. We have thus approached National Parks for assistance. Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials should quickly come in to help before lose our only source of livelihood — cattle and goats.
“It’s good to share the environment with these animals but when they become a menace to the point of threatening our livelihoods then the authorities must act,” he said.
He said years of poaching could have depleted the hyenas’ other sources of food in the mountains.
Once or twice people have ganged up to attack the animals in a bid to stop them venturing into the villages.
Only last year a six-year-old girl was mauled to death while three men were seriously injured after being attacked by a hyena that terrorised Taguma Village, Chief Makumbe, in the same area.
At one point the police were forced to issue warnings to people in the area not to attack the animals but to alert the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials.
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo said the authority was not aware of the hyena problem but urged the residents not to attack the wild animals but to either approach the police or Parks authorities.
“These people are trained to deal with the animals. Wild animals can be are dangerous if improperly handled and thus require handling by trained people like park rangers,” she said.
To its disadvantage Buhera has vast ranges of mountains that provide an ideal habitat for the carnivore. According to the villagers, most at risk are villagers living nearer to the foot of the hills and mountains in the area.
However, this is strongly discouraged as the animals can be vicious when cornered.
According to wikipedia, the hyena is an opportunistic hunter and primarily nocturnal, but may venture from its lair in the early morning hours in search of food.
The spotted hyena common in Southern Africa is generally social and often congregate at kills. They can grab or select the easiest and the most palatable food available. It can be very predatory to domestic animals like goats and donkeys. Although the spotted hyena is thought of as a scavenger, a large portion of the hyena’s diet comes from hunting live animals such as gazelle, zebras and wildebeest. In the event these animals are scarce, the hyena can turn to domestic animals.
The hyena can grow to a weight of up to 80 kilogrammes with females slightly heavier than males. They have an approximate length of 150cm.
Spotted hyenas have a gestation period of four months and will usually produce two or three young ones per litter but can have more or less.
Online Reporter