Vusumuzi DubeRobin Muchetu in Hwange
Traditional leaders have bemoaned the lack of compensation for victims of human wildlife conflict saying they need to be assisted in getting medical attention and food security as animals destroy their fields.
Speaking on the sideliners of the African Elephant Conference in Hwange, Chief Nelukoba of Dete said the animals were a menace and continue to harm people with no compensation from responsible authorities.
“Elephants are a challenge in our community as the kill people and destroy their fields. The other bigger problem is that they are now too many in this place and when they enter the fields and they are not compensated. As we speak there is a person who was attacked by an elephant and was never compensated at all,” he said.
Chief Nelukoba said the swelling populations of jumbo was a cause of concern saying the communities need to be allowed to air their views at international platforms such as CITES.
“Looking at their numbers they are too many for this place such that if we reduce them by at least half the current population it will be better. It is important that we have affected communities allowed to speak at international platforms. If we speak on their behalf to council or the national park authorities, it ends there so it needs to go further and reach other top officials at large platforms,” he said.
Added the Chief; “It is not good that we deal with these matters at low levels and elephants and there, it must be escalated to higher levels and the matters solved. We cannot blame the government because maybe the issues we raise about compensation do not even reach them,”.
In terms of compensation the chief said they would want medical and rehabilitation bills paid.
“We want people affected by wildlife conflict to be catered for in terms of their medical bills being paid and also that people who will have had their fields destroyed given food to survive. When elephants invade a field, they come in numbers and they clear a whole field with no time and people are left with no food at all so we need to ensure that they have food to cater for their survival,” said the Chief.
He said the challenge was also that people in the community’s do not benefit anything when wildlife is taken down in the national parks.
“The tusks are taken away, the trophies taken and the skin too is taken away so what benefit is it to the communities. Who takes those things and who are they benefiting really because that is where the money is? We want something from that to enable us to cater for our livelihoods,” he added. -@NyembeziMu
Online Reporter