THIRTY-FIVE people were killed by wildlife in 2023 down from 68 deaths recorded in 2022, Environment and Wildlife minister Sithembiso Nyoni said as she bemoaned cases of human-wildlife conflict.
Nyoni said more than 80 people were left nursing injuries of various degrees after being attacked by wild animals last year.
Nyoni said government was in the process of establishing a human-wildlife conflict relief fund, but noted that there would be no compensation for dead victims.
She revealed this while responding to written questions recently in Parliament on plans to compensate communities living around Hwange National Park who lost livestock and lives due to human-wildlife conflicts.
“The consequences of human-wildlife conflict are more serious in areas such as communities around Hwange National Park,” Nyoni said.
“Government is setting up a human-wildlife conflict relief fund that will provide relief for the remaining family members of those killed and relief for those injured and maimed.”
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She said the fund would be managed by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks).
“In this regard, we have a programme of community consultation on how they want this fund to be structured, how it will be managed and the design of the necessary modalities for evaluations and technical assessments,” she said
The minister, however, said the fund would not provide compensation for human life lost in wildlife encounters.
“A point of emphasis is that there can never be any compensation for a lost life,” she said.
“I commiserate with the loss of human life in encounters between humans and wildlife.”
She said Zimbabwe continued to face numerous challenges emanating from increased human-wildlife conflict that threaten people’s safety and livelihoods.
ZimParks has been struggling to compensate victims of wildlife attacks in the wake of increased human-wildlife conflicts despite government having approved a human-wildlife conflict relief fund to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflicts in 2022.
In 2021, 71 deaths and 50 injured were recorded, compared to 60 deaths and 40 injured in 2020.
In 2022, 68 people were killed by wild animals.
The country recorded 15 deaths and 43 injured during the first quarter of 2023.
The increase in wildlife population, coupled with a ban on culling following the promulgation of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species which imposed a global ban on ivory trade, have been blamed for rising incidents of human-wildlife conflicts.