IN WHAT might blow out as human and wildlife conflict in Shurugwi South, Midlands province a herd of elephants that had escaped from a nearby game park was this week spotted roaming in the local community.
Shurugwi South MP Edmund Mukaratigwa confirmed the development.
“We have 12 elephants in the constituency. They were 13 and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) shot dead one to scare them away,” he said.
“However, they are still roaming the area although we initially thought after the death of one of them, they would go back to the game park, which did not happen as per their nature.”
Mukaratigwa said every year at least three elephants cross escape from the nearby national park, but would return to their base after a few days.
“It is better that ZimParks rangers were deployed on time to control crowds of people gathered to see the elephants. On Monday, the department had removed the key parts of the elephant as per government procedures. People to share the meat and the police were deployed to ensure order and to avert human conflict,” he said.
“This year, the number of elephants is just too much and that has drawn the attention of many people in the area. The district coordinator has been very active in the whole process and we are happy that people are safe.
“We are nevertheless advising people to keep away from the elephants because wild animals can actually be very dangerous to human beings especially if people upset them,” he said.