BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Zimbabwe has set up a fund to fund the treatment and burial expenses for victims of human-wildlife conflicts amid revelations that 46 people have been killed by wild animals this year alone.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists in Harare on Tuesday that Cabinet had approved the setting up of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund after considering the high number of people losing their lives due to attacks by wild animals.

Mutsvangwa said Mashonaland West was the hardest hit by human-wildlife conflicts as 19 people have been killed in the province this year.

“Cabinet adopted the establishment of a relief fund to cushion the victims of human-wildlife conflict by way of funeral assistance and an amount paid towards hospitalisation and treatment with a set limit,” she said in a post cabinet meeting briefing.

Mutsvangwa said competition for limited resources often resulted in wild animals killing people, especially in communal areas and towns that were close to national parks, safari areas and forests as well as other protected areas.

“Consequently, people living adjacent to wildlife areas are always in danger of being attacked by the animals, and it has been established that the frequency of such attacks is increasing,” she added.

“This year alone, as of August 2022, 46 Zimbabwean lives have been lost to human-wildlife conflict with the most affected being Mashonaland West Province where 19 people were killed, mostly in Kariba.”

The minister said human-wildlife conflicts has resulted in people being maimed, disabled or sustaining serious injuries.

Food security for communities has also come under serious threat due to the consumption and destruction of crops, loss of livestock to predatory wild animals, destruction and damage of property and infrastructure as well as exposure to zoonotic diseases.

Mutsvangwa also outlined strategies to reduce human-wildlife conflicts that included conservation education in the use of barriers, translocation, sterilisation and selective culling of wildlife, approved hunting quotas and fencing to restrict or control the movement of wildlife.

A specialised human-wildlife conflict unit will be established under the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

“The Fund is based on a self-financing model where proceeds from hunting and other crowd funding activities will be mobilised to resource the Fund,” Mutsvangwa said.

“The Fund will be extended to include preventative measures such as providing water in the game parks and enhancing grazing pastures.

“The Fund will also look at associated impacts such as livestock loss and control of wildlife and livestock movements to curtail the spread of diseases such as foot and mouth.”

Zimbabwe has the highest number of deaths from human-wildlife conflicts in the region because of large populations of wild animals compared to other countries such as Botswana, Mutsvangwa said.

“In 1980, Zimbabwe had reached an elephant population of approximately 50 000, while the human population was 7.4 million,” she said.

“In the year 2022, the (Zimbabwe Statistics Agency) population census estimated the number of people to have more than doubled to about 16 million (while) the elephant population is now estimated at more than 85 000, with other species also showing significant growth.”