A middle-aged woman from Hwange on Friday 24 November was pronounced dead at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo where she had been transferred to seek medical care after an attack by elephants inside the Hwange Colliery Company.
The deceased identified as Lydia Dube, was an employee of Taff Security contracted by Hwange Colliery to boost security in the mine.
The Weekly gathered on the early morning of Friday 24th November 2023, the deceased was guarding a mobile crane that had a breakdown just after the former Inductoserve offices.
It is understood that the area is usually the daily crossing route of elephants.
Between 3 am and 3:30 am the deceased was in the broken-down crane she was guarding when the elephants sensed her presence.
One of the elephants charged towards her and using its truncheon, it bundled her out of the truck.
The elephant then started dragging Dube on the ground for close to 500 meters.
Before the elephant could trample on Dube, a shunting truck arrived and hooted to chase away the elephants.
An eyewitness said that is how she got saved.
“She was severely injured on her head and was losing lots of blood. The driver called the ambulance with the help of other drivers who parked at the scene to assist her. She was later sent to the hospital (in Hwange) around 5 am and later transferred to Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo where she passed on,” said an eyewitness.
Tinashe Farawo, the Zimbabwe Parks, and Wildlife Management Authority’s head of corporate communications confirmed the incident when contacted by The Weekly.
“We received the sad news. So, we can confirm that it happened. It’s an unfortunate incident. It seems like we continue to lose lives due to human-wildlife conflict, especially during these dry months up to the onset of the rainy season,” he said.
Farawo said in order to save lives, there is a need for people in Hwange to be vigilant at night.
“We encourage communities to at least minimise movements at night so that we can preserve lives because most of the animals move at night. We also encourage communities to give us as much information as possible so that we react. Normally we react in the shortest space of time so that we can help communities,” he said.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance’s Hwange Community Monitor, Thobekile Shoko, said it is disheartening that human-wildlife conflict is worsening and called upon authorities to intervene.
“It is really painful to think of it. We reported the issue of wildlife conflict just last week when l was part of a workshop which had Zim Parks workers.
“It is with a heavy heart that Lydia died a very painful way, and people in Hwange are now living in fear because these elephants are everywhere.
“We have people who go to work on foot using the same bush where she was killed, now we put a plea to those Chinese mines who don’t provide transport to their workers to please do something about this so that we save lives,” she said.
As previously reported by The Weekly, elephants are wreaking havoc in Hwange’s Lusumbami area where the big wild beasts have come into villages from their traditional natural habitat as a result of the expansion of mining activities into areas close to the Hwange National Parks’ precincts.
The human-animal conflict has become frequent due to direct interactions or competition for resources between humans and wildlife.
CNRG Matabeleland Field Officer Ndaizivei Garura said it is critical to address human-wildlife conflict in a way that ensures the safety of both humans and wildlife while also developing long-term solutions for peaceful cohabitation.
“To protect both the animals and the people in the area, Hwange National Park and the surrounding communities must continue to collaborate in order to manage and reduce these conflicts,” she said.
CNRG Director Farai Maguwu says Lydia’s death was avoidable. He said sending an employee for guard duties at night in a wildlife area without a firearm or backup plan is akin to sending them on a suicide mission. Her employer must be held accountable, he said.
CNRG has been advocating for the sustainable management and conservation of ecosystems for the benefit of local communities in Hwange through its Ecosystem: Wildlife and Forestry strategy pillar.
According to government spokesperson Nick Mangwana, at least 60 people were killed by elephants in Zimbabwe between January and late May 2022, compared with 72 overall of 2021.
The statistics therefore show that human-wildlife conflict is a big problem in the country.