Elephant tramples Kariba woman
Obert Siamilandu, Zimbabwe Independent
September 10, 2024
See link
https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200032112/elephant-tramples-kariba-woman
for photo.
A 54-YEAR-OLD Kariba woman, Sinai Mpofu was yesterday attacked and killed
by an elephant while coming from a fishing expedition.
The deceased was in the company of two colleagues who escaped to safety
when the elephant emerged from the bush in the Chiwara area and charged
towards them.
Mpofu was not fortunate as she tripped and fell while trying to run away.
One of the survivors,Pedzisai Chabeta said:”We witnessed the elephant
attacking our colleague from a distance. When we returned to the scene, we
found her lifeless before proceeding to Nyamhunga Police Post to file a
report."
Kariba Residents Trust Chairperson Munyaradzi Jokonia, who was at the
scene, expressed his sorrow over the loss of life.
"We are appealing to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority
(ZimParks) to expedite the Bill to compensate victims of wildlife attacks.
“Just two weeks ago, we witnessed another incident in which a man was
killed by an elephant," said Jokonia .
ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo described the incident as sad and
unfortunate. "We can confirm that there was an unfortunate incident which
happened yesterday afternoon where a woman in her fifties was trampled to
death.She was part of a group of women which were coming from fishing from
Lake Kariba,” said Farawo.
He added: “After we received the sad news,we tracked the elephant and
managed to eliminate the problem animal but we continue to encourage
residents to take hid of our warnings,when we go out doing our awareness
campaigns, residents must take heed of our warnings.We also discourage
residents from walking along bushy areas especially, well -known elephant
corridors.”
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
between 2010 and 2019, there were 1 158 reported human-elephant conflict
incidents in Africa, 443 human fatalities and 557 injuries.The countries
with the highest number of human-elephant conflict incidents include South
Africa (234 incidents, 104 fatalities), Kenya (155 incidents, 55
fatalities),Tanzania (123 incidents, 43 fatalities), Botswana (92
incidents, 25 fatalities) and Zimbabwe with 84 incidents, 22 fatalities.
https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200032112/elephant-tramples-kariba-woman