By ANDREW MUKOMA
HERDS of elephants believed to be coming from the neighbouring Botswana and Zimbabwe are terrorising villages in Livingstone and Kazungula District causing havoc and fear among villagers.
When night falls in Nsinde, Maunga and parts of residential and township areas in the tourist capital, residents start worrying about the herds of elephants that wander into their village and townships from across the borders in Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Unlucky farmer Elijah Mudenda’s tomatoes and cabbage garden in Nsinde area of Simonga, the outskirt of Livingstone was a casualty of the roaming elephants last week when they destroyed his crops.
Mr Mudenda told said that all his crops were wiped out by the elephants leaving nothing in the field.
“This is the first time my garden has become a target [of the elephants]. In the past, we used to hear neighbours complaining about elephants devouring their crops. They are destroying our crops now. As you can see, I am still planting on the other side, but I am not sure if I will harvest and make a profit,” Mr Mudenda said.
He explained that a herd of elephants repeatedly pushed down his fence on the garden, eating and trampling on his tomatoes and other crops as they passed through.
The 48-year-old discovered that the elephants were devouring his crops after some locals unsuccessfully tried to chase them away.
The rampaging elephants are also reported terrorizing some villages in Nsongwe and Mukuni areas of Kazungula district, attacking people, trampling crops and scaring children.
“We are using traditional ways to try to scare the animals, but all in vain, because whenever we do something, the monsters disappear for a few days, and when they come back there is no peace,” local farmer Joseph Malite told the Daily Nation.
He added, “it even seems they come back to take revenge.”
They (villagers) say children in the area are terrified to walk to school for fear of crossing paths with their tormentors.
