Stray jumbo kills two

Midlands Bureau Chief
TWO people died while two others were seriously injured after being trampled by a stray elephant in the Chitekete area of Gokwe-North district

Cases of elephants invading human settlements in search of food during the dry season are common in Gokwe.

Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo confirmed the death of the two people.

“I can confirm that two people died while two others were injured after being trampled by a lone elephant bull in Chitekete area of Gokwe North,” said Mr Farawo.

He said the injured were rushed to Zhomba Clinic. Mr Farawo said parks rangers were hunting down the rogue elephant.

“This elephant is now a danger to villagers and there is need to take it down hence our rangers are now on the ground,” he said.

Mr Farawo said cases of human/ wildlife conflict were being recorded in the district since the start of the year.

He said they were expecting the cases to increase as the dry season approaches.

“We might sound like a scratched record when we say we have over-population when it comes to our elephants.

There is over-population and hence the increase in cases of human/ elephant conflict,” he said.