Jumbo tramples another villager

ANDREW MUKOMA writes@SunZambianAN elephant in Livingstone has trampled a 27 year old man to death, sparking complaints from villagers with some threatening to start poaching the animals.Obert Mwiya of Nsongwe viillage in Chief Mukuni’s Chiefdom was killed by an elephant in Mosi-oa-Tunya Natuional Park as he and others were returning from Victoria Falls to sell curios on Sunday.Chief Mukuni expressed disappointment that officers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) did not respond to emergencies timely whenever there was human-wildlife conflict.Yesterday, a horde of villagers from Nsongwe stormed the offices DWNP, protesting the alleged failure by the officers to render assistance towards the funeral of Mr Mwiya, who was killed on Sunday evening.The villagers complained of the influx of elephants in the area saying that the animals were terrorising villages during the day and in the night.It had to take Chief Mukuni’s intervention as his subjects demanded an audience with the Regional Warden Charles Simwawa.Speaking during a meeting with Mr Simwawa, Chief Mukuni expressed disappointment with the way his officers had been handling matters involving elephants.“I understand the community Nsongwe has visited this office several times to see how best we can solve or reduce the incidences of elephants killing people Our main worry is lack of quick response from your office when something of that nature happens.“We know it happened in the national park but human life is human life. The good thing is you and us to start working together. Those elephants are here and we can find answers as to how we can help each other,” Chief Mukuni said.But Mr Simwawa could not respond to the concerns raised by the traditional leader in the presence of journalists requested for privacy.After a couple of minutes, Chief Mukuni accompanied by some headmen left Mr Samawa’s office and informed the journalists that the meeting was fruitful.“The meeting was fruitful and the office has promised to come in by providing food for the mourners and they wanted to get a coffin but Overland Mission (an NGO operating in Nsongwe) has come forth to help us,” he said.Chief Mukuni said it had been agreed that the department would introduce community scouts who will be equipped with knowledge and skills on how to deal with the jumbos.One of villagers expressed happiness about the move to train community scouts.Mr Wezzy Chembe said: “It looks like it’s a better plan since they have agree to train community rangers on how to deal with these elephants.” The Sun