Victoria Falls mayor Somvelo Dlamini has appealed to the Government and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management (Zimparks) to assist the local authority to erect a perimeter fence around the resort city to keep dangerous animals away.
This comes after a man from Mkhosana high-density suburb and another man from the Mfelandawonye area were trampled to death by elephants in one week.
Dlamini told VicFallsLive that although Zimparks quickly responded by putting down the two elephants, killing the jumbos was not enough. Said Dlamini:
We have lost quite a number of people in this town to these human-wildlife conflicts, but I think it’s not warranted to keep losing souls.
We understand that we are in close proximity to wild animals as we are bordering national parks areas, but I believe that there must be control measures put in place so that we don’t keep experiencing these losses.
We used to have a perimeter fence just outside town that used to protect people from these wild animals, but it was vandalised.
I believe with the government working with parks and local authorities, the fence can be put back so that we avoid stray elephants and buffalos getting into residential areas.
I think this should be a quick and long-lasting solution as (the killing of people by elephants) has left many children broken and fatherless.