Stray lions on prowl, kill over 30 livestock in Hwange, ZimParks intensifies search

Human, wildlife conflict has become a cause for worry, in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular.

Few days ago, baboons reportedly wrecked havoc in Victoria Falls, pouncing on a supermarket in search for food.

Not long ago, a crocodile caused a stir when it was spotted in the corridors of a hospital in Chiredzi.

It did not attack anyone, and was believed to have strayed from the nearby Chiredzi River.

Meanwhile, some communities in Zimbabwe particularly those near game parks live in fear of stray wild animals.

Apparently, authorities have intensified efforts to capture lions that are terrorising Dopota village in Hwange where the marauding predators have killed more than thirty livestock during the past three weeks.

With schools set to open soon, the villagers say their biggest concern is the safety of their children most of whom walk long distances to and from school.

Schools will open before the end of this month and it has been weeks without a solution to the challenge. Our fear is that our children most of whom walk long distances to and from school will be attacked by the lions,” said a villager.

The country’s wildlife authorities with support from other stakeholders have deployed teams to try and track down the predators with Zimparks Public Relations Manager, Tinashe Farawo highlighting that the safety of the villagers is their major priority.

It has been long in terms of tracking down the lions and this is largely due to the fact that during this time of year, there is a lot of thicket around that area hence its not easy to track down the animals. Our team is however on the ground and we will continue to track the animals and make sure that we capture and release the predators into the park, he said.

Meanwhile, some village elders are convinced there is need to carry out rituals to ward-off the troublesome beasts.

The marauding lions have given us a serious headache and we feel we need to put our heads together and explore all options available that can bring peace in the area. There are some who fee we need to carry out a ceremony to try and ward off the lions, said a villager elder.

Conservationists say it is disappointing that as the human-wildlife conflict rages on in Dopota, the so-called animal rights activists have chosen to ignore the plight of the community and will only surface when the animals are gunned down.

-Zwnews/ Zbc