Elephant kills Lupane man

A 28-YEAR-OLD man was on Wednesday night killed by an elephant in Lupane while guarding his field as wild animals wreak havoc in the district.

Sifelani Ncube's body was found on Thursday morning with intestines protruding.

Kusile Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr Christopher Chuma confirmed the death.

"A villager was trampled to death by an elephant while guarding his fields.

"The challenge is that the elephants are outside our area of jurisdiction at a private A2 Farm across Gwayi River and we don't get there unless by     invitation.

"However, this particular incident happened in our area and our rangers are on the ground hunting for the elephant," said Mr Chuma.

A villager who preferred to remain anonymous said: "People went out to guard the fields at night as usual. At night a herd of elephants arrived and everyone made noise by beating tins and drums and the herd went away.

"However, I think one elephant remained behind and later people heard the sound of its trumpet in the direction of Ncube's field followed by his screams for help."

CAMPFIRE and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers are also understood to be in the area tracking the herd.

Recently, KRDC, Zimparks rangers and Veterinary Services Department officers teamed up to hunt down a herd of buffaloes that was terrorising villagers in Cross Feya in Jotsholo.

Last week, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri played down the issue of human-wildlife conflict saying wild animals only stray into human settlements during drought and this year they will not be a problem.

She was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme investors' conference in Livingstone, Zambia after being asked what Government was doing to end human-wildlife conflict.