BY NHAU MANGIRAZI
MAGUNJE legislator Cecil Kashiri has raised concern over a head of buffalo that escaped from Matusadona National Park last week and has reportedly killed a minor and injured two women in Hurungwe.
“A head of buffaloes is believed to have escaped from a nearby game park last week. A schoolgoing minor was attacked and killed in Magororo, Hurungwe West constituency on Thursday. Four buffaloes were seen at Masaga area in Menoembwa and believed to have moved to Badze River in Magunje constituency. In Karereshi a woman was also attacked by a buffalo and taken to Magunje Hospital and we gather she has been transferred to Karoi Hospital. Another woman was attacked at Chishumba in Magunje constituency,” Kashiri said.
Chief Nyamhunga also confirmed that the buffaloes were wreaking havoc among his subjects, adding that authorities were not doing enough to curb human-wildlife conflicts.
Hurungwe chief executive officer Luke Karivhina confirmed yesterday that rangers had been deployed to track the head.
“We are getting updates from local communities and we have deployed our rangers to help in dealing with the head. This is all what I can confirm for now,” he said.
“We hereby urge parents to make sure that children come home early and are safe and not to try and attack the vicious animals. We are not sure of the number of buffaloes that escaped, given the distance between the areas where they were spotted, it is possible that there could be many more out there.”
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said: “We have received two reports where buffaloes attacked two villagers around Hurungwe. Our team has managed to kill one buffalo so far. Our challenge is that we have overpopulation of these animals, hence they invade communities. We are there to safeguard nature and citizens.”
