Wild animals continue to kill people in Zimbabwe

A railway line tracker has been killed by a lion in Dete, Zimbabwe’s Matebeleland North Province, an official confirmed on Monday.

Police and rangers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) found the 43-year-old victim’s body last Thursday, Matebeleland North Police spokesperson, Siphiwe Makonese, said.

Zimparks spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo, called for enhanced efforts to address human-wildlife conflict in the country.

This is one of the issues we always raise that our parks are overpopulated and because of that people are being killed, he said.

In 2019, we lost 40 people who were killed by wildlife because of human-wildlife conflict.

We have to make sure people benefit from wildlife than to lose property and lives.

There has been a spike in human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe, largely attributed to the growing human population that has led to diminishing natural habitat for wildlife.