Zebras stray into Bulawayo CBD

Peter Matika

Senior Zimpapers Writer

AS dawn peeled back the night and Bulawayo prepared for another quiet Sunday, two stray zebras casually strutted into the Central Business District, turning traffic lanes into an impromptu safari route.

Out of the early morning mist, the two black and white beasts sampled the CBD, their hooves striking tar instead of soil, their wide eyes reflecting shop windows rather than open plains.

In a city built of stone and steel, the wild had arrived unannounced, turning an ordinary morning into an unforgettable spectacle. For a few surreal hours, Bulawayo’s CBD swapped its usual rhythm of hooting kombis and hurried footsteps for the soft, uncertain clip-clop of hooves.

The zebras moved cautiously, as if aware they were guests in unfamiliar territory, navigating through pavements, road markings and curious stares with equal confusion.

The first sighting was reported in North End suburb at around 6am, when most of the city was still rubbing sleep from its eyes.

“I honestly thought fatigue was playing tricks on me. I saw these shapes moving quietly down the road. I rubbed my eyes, looked again, and there they were, two zebras, just walking like they had business in town,” said Mr Sibusiso Ndlovu, a security guard who was on duty at the time.

From North End, the striped animals slowly made their way towards the city centre, sticking close together, occasionally stopping to look around as unfamiliar sounds echoed between buildings.

By around 7am, they had reached Joshua Mqabuko Street (formerly Main Street), Bulawayo’s bustling commercial spine, where their presence caused traffic to slow to a crawl and pedestrians to abandon their routines altogether.

Phones were whipped out, voices rose in disbelief, and the CBD briefly came to a standstill. “I was setting up my stall when someone shouted, amaDube (zebras). At first, I laughed. Then I looked up and saw them. I felt excited and scared at the same time. They looked beautiful, but also very lost,” said a street vendor.

Social media went into a frenzy as images of the two zebras were shared across timelines. Those bearing the Dube surname claimed the striped visitors as family, bragging about their elegance, discipline and unmistakable majesty.

Wildlife conservationists believe the animals’ unlikely city tour was driven by fear rather than curiosity.

“We suspect they received pressure from dog poachers on the outskirts of the Bulawayo region, which is why and how they were pushed into town,” said Mr Baye Pigors, owner of the Free to Be Wild Rescue Centre situated in Burnside.

“In trying to flee danger, they ran in the wrong direction. Once they entered the city, everything became confusing for them. They didn’t know how to escape,” she said.

The zebras were later relocated to Frick Muller Big Brother Abattoir, where they could be confined in a quieter, controlled environment away from the noise and confusion of the CBD.