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Fungai Lupande Mash Central Bureau
Mining activities along the Mazowe River in Rushinga are driving herds of elephants into villages in three wards close to the border with Mozambique, causing havoc and raising alarm in the communities.
The villages include, Nyabawa, Mukosa, Chapinduka, Chimandau and Nyamuzeya.
Some of these villages have settled on the corridor of wildlife to Mozambique along the Mazowe River and are constantly affected by marauding elephants, year in and year out.
This results in destruction of crops causing food insecurity causing people to survive on baobab fruits which are also a target of elephants.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority head of corporate communication Mr Tinashe Farawo said they received a distress call from Rushinga two days ago.
“We promptly responded, unfortunately we did not have enough lighting to see the animals. We have mobilised resources and we are going back to scare away the animal,” he said.
“We encourage communities to minimise movement during the night to give the animals space to move freely and not provoke the animals. We also have a challenge of small-scale miners in these areas who are making noise which create problems.”
Zanu PF candidate for Rushinga Cde Tendai Nyabani said although there are no casualties, the affected communities are living in fear.
He said the animals are destroying property.
“We are appealing to ZimParks to drive away the animals. Along Mazowe River, there is an influx of gold panners and their activities are driving the animals into communities,” he said.
In previous years, the district had a Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) programme under Nyatana Wildlife which was a joint venture between Rushinga and Uzumba/Maramba/Pfungwe.
The project was a trans-frontier corridor through Mozambique where migrant wildlife got their passage to and from the two countries.
Boundaries were drawn along the Mazowe River and the agreement included a hunter who later pulled out in 2014, collapsing the project.
Online Reporter