Game rangers held for roadkill theft

Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE love for game meat has landed two Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe rangers in trouble after they were arrested for skinning a bush buck hit by a car and sharing the meat.Instead of alerting their superiors as is procedure, Shepherd Mukombwe, 32, and Chrispen Tungwarara, 30, picked up the dead bush buck which had been hit by a car and skinned it before taking the meat to their homes at Zambezi Camp.

The duo was found in possession of a combined 5kg of the meat on Thursday last week, leading to their arrest.

Mukombwe and Tungwarara pleaded guilty to violating a section of the Parks and Wildlife Act when they appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Sharon Rosemani yesterday.

The magistrate spared the two jail life, saying they had suffered enough embarrassment by their arrest in light of their jobs and position in society.

The two were each fined $70.

“In coming with your sentence I considered that you are first offenders. You’ve already suffered a lot of embarrassment for being arrested for such a small portion of meat considering your jobs. Sending you to jail would be unfair.

“However, you were employed to protect these animals and you are the ones who are being found violating the same laws you are supposed to enforce,” said Rosemani.

Listen Nare for the State said on November 13, Mukombwe saw the bush buck carcass near Croc Farm and carried it to Zambezi Camp.

The first accused saw the carcass on the side of the road at about 9pm and carried it to Zambezi Camp where he invited the second accused.

The two skinned the animal, shared the meat and disposed of the hide on the side of the road, said the prosecutor.

A passerby who spotted the hide reported the matter to Parks and Wildlife authorities who investigated and arrested Mukombwe and Tungwarara before handing them over to the police.

The buck was valued at $1,000 and meat worth $167 was recovered.

In mitigation, the rangers told the court the bush buck had already been devoured by wild animals and they scavenged for a few remains because they had gone for two months without receiving their rations at work.