National

Rhino monitoring teams stumble on 90 wire snares, cables and foods stuffs inside Hwange National Park

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2023

BY STAFF REPORTER

Bhejane Trust rhino monitoring teams recently stumbled on 90 wire snares, industrial cables and food stuff in the Hwange National Park amid suspicions the items were suspected to be left by poachers in the Sinamatella area.

Trevor Lane, who is the founder of the organisation, said the poachers were suspected to be moving as a group after three spoors were tracked by the teams that noticed a large pile of ash, which proved to be an active poachers base with fresh coal on the ash pile.

” There were three fresh poachers’ spoors leaving the base heading further into the park, so the team tracked the spoor for most of the morning and found the poacher’s equipment hidden in a riverbed,” Lane said.

“They then ambushed the equipment thinking that the poachers would return soon to collect the stuff, however, they were there until well after sunset and eventually gave up as nobody had come to collect the equipment, and assumed the poachers had found their tracks and fled.”

Lane said the poachers abandoned 90 wire snares, two rolls of wire used as stays on electricity poles, five metre of industrial cable and 25 kg of mealie meal, among other things.

“The area is the same area where 26 poached impala and four kudu were found in a suspected poisoning incident towards the end of last year,” he revealed.

Meanwhile, on Thursday last week police in Victoria Falls arrested two men from Hwange who were found in possession of fresh elephant tusks measuring over 1.2 meters each.

They have since been taken to court.

Although during the Covid-19 lockdowns, the Hwange National Park did not record any poaching cases, concerns are raising over the current trends.

National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

National

Ranger killed by elephant in Kariba

Published

1 month ago

March 14, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A 62-year-old ranger, Josphat Mandishara, was tragically killed by an elephant in Kariba yesterday.

Mandishara, who worked for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), was on patrol in the Gatche-gatche area with fellow rangers and police officers.

At around 10 pm, Mandishara returned to the harbor where their boat was docked, and that’s when he encountered the elephant. The elephant charged at him, causing fatal injuries. His colleagues were nearby, resupplying at the Gatche-gatche Irrigation Scheme.

Mandishara’s body was taken to Kariba District Hospital for a post-mortem, and the incident was reported to the police.

ZimParks has sent a team to manage the problem elephant and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Director General of ZimParks, Prof. Edson Gandiwa, and his team have sent condolences to Mandishara’s family, friends, and colleagues. Mandishara will be remembered for his dedication to wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.

National

ZIMRA customs officer appears in court for criminal abuse of office

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY STAFF REPORTER

A Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) customs officer, Phillip Kuvenga, has been accused of criminal abuse of office for allegedly assisting in the importation of banned motor vehicles.

Kuvenga, 28, who is stationed at Victoria Falls, allegedly received documents from clients, completed valuation sheets, and carried out the valuation process. However, he is accused of endorsing different chassis numbers to deceive his supervisors during the validation and approval process.

After obtaining approval, Kuvenga would capture the correct chassis numbers in the ASYCUDA World System. He would then alter or replace the documents submitted earlier to his supervisors.

The offense came to light when a motor vehicle that had not yet arrived in Zimbabwe was found to have been already registered. A thorough check by ZIMRA led to Kuvenga’s arrest.

Kuvenga appeared in court on February 1, where he was denied bail by Magistrate Gift Manyka. He is expected to appear in court again today for another bail hearing.