Whinsley Masara Chronicle Reporter
VILLAGERS in Tsholotsho North are appealing to the government to immediately intervene following the sighting of about 10 lions in their area.
The lions are wreaking havoc in areas near Hwange National Park as they are straying into villages, a development that has been attributed to the drought situation that has seen the animals becoming desperate for food.
Five donkeys, five goats and three cattle are said to have been killed in the past five days by the lions in Ward 3, Mlevu area in Sipepa, Tsholotsho.
Four donkeys, five cattle and three goats were killed last week in the same area.
Tsholotsho Campfire manager Simelisizwe Sibanda said they had received complaints on the problematic lions.
“I sent a team to attend to Ward One, Two and Three but currently I cannot say which point there are at exactly. We are attending to the matter,” he said.
Ngamo village head Johnson Ncube said people in Tsholotsho North’s Ward Three were living in fear.
“People have spotted two groups of lions which are moving towards people’s homesteads. There are two male lions which are moving together and these killed cattle while another group of about eight lions has been spotted around as well,” said Ncube.
“We’ve always done the best we can to drive wildlife out of our villages to safeguard human life as well as that of our livestock but this time we are failing to control them.”
Nyelezi village head Philimon Ncube said the situation had gone out of hand.
“The lions are extremely dangerous because even when we try to drive them off with axes, there is one very big male lion which doesn’t move. They are moving from village to village causing havoc,” he said.
Caroline Washaya-Moyo, the spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, said the area in question was under the council’s jurisdiction which should be responsible for the issue.