A woman believed to be in her early 40s has been killed by an elephant in Chieftainess Chiawa’s area in Kafue district.
The woman was killed when she was guarding her maize field against the jumbos which have invaded the area.
Chiawa ward councilor (MMD) Boniface Chiyawa confirmed the incidence in Kafue.
Mr. Chiyawa said the incidence happened last night around 22:00 hours in Mugurameno village.
Mr. Chiyawa, who identified the woman as Elita Malasa, said this is the first death the area has recorded since January when elephants invaded the area to eat crops.
He said the incidence has angered the villagers who feel that little is being done by the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to control the animals from straying into villages.
He said as a way of expressing their anger, the villagers have since confiscated a gun belonging to a ZAWA scout in the area.
Mr. Chiyawa said the body of a woman, which has been mangled, is still lying in the maize field where the incidence happened because villagers are waiting for ZAWA officials to remove it.
He described the death of the woman as sad especially that the local people have always appealed to ZAWA to crop the elephants.
He said with the floods that have already washed away their crops along the river bunks, the villagers will this year starve because of the elephants that are feasting on their crops that have been planted on the high lands.
[ZNBC]
Sad news especially that the deceased was a hard working woman not like useless PF kaponyas who wait for miracle money in their pockets.ZAWA please do your work ,you do not need the President to tell you what to do or else get out and others will take over from you.
Could someone tell me the role of ZAWA? Its like ZAWA prefers animals to human beings. Most lives are lost due to negligence by ZAWA. Maybe ZP should take over the responsibilities of ZAWA
The police, ZAWA and the communities themselves are all in this together. The ZAWA Act of 1996 stipulates joint ownership and control of the wild between the Govt and communities. Negligence on the part of the communities causing the death of the woman cannot therefore be blamed on ZAWA. The death could have been avoided had the woman taken the necessary measures. Its unheard of for a woman to patronise fields in the middle of the night alone. MHSRIP
#3 TRIBALIST; I don’t agree with you about negligence on the part of the deceased. The woman was merely protecting her fields from the beast. It is the role of ZAWA to protect human life and chase away animals which stray in people’s homes or fields. Tribalist are you a Game guard?
But still this woman was too brave. How do you protect your field from elephants in the nite for that matter. Anyways mhsrip.
# 3 Are you a game guard if one better of you quit, it`s role of Zawa to ensure dangerous animals are kept away from human beings in short they shouldn`t be any conflict, human life is more important than an animal which ever case you take it.
It’s a tragedy.#2, I agree totally. Just recently, over 750 families were removed from some land in Lusaka which Govt (Catherine Namugala) has allocated to wild animals. This is ironical more so that there is a critical shortage of land in Lusaka. No wonder Robinson Zulu, Meanwood Chairman can sell 1500 hectares of land to NAPSA for US$15million!
Rest in peace Elita……it should have been a PF Kaponya not you!! They’re a total waste of space.
The incident is quite sad but this can be avoided,ZAWA is there to protect people and the property,but can we get a proffessional report(ZAWA) not a politician who is just trying to campaign.Police have trained in different field please.The next comment blame will shift to the President and his vice.What have they got to do with such incidences.
I am sure this must be a case of human encroahment on to habitats of wildlife. This is a result of creating human settlements in wildlife corridors. Is the jumbo really at fault?
My condolence to her family//
Last year the government pleaded with the International Agency for Endangered Species to allow Zambia sell its Ivory. They refused us permission. Such money would compensate the family in this case. The Human-Animal conflict is difficult to manage more especially when the International Agency incharge is not supportive.
Watch a clip on this Discovery in lower Lwangwa and Kafue river how Villages have no control on wild animals. Till today there isn’t meaningful protect from govt
I equally concur with # 3 the Tribalist. Where on earth can a lone woman guard her maize field in the middle of the night against a BEAST? She was on the wrong side and i suspect she was on a suicide mission!!!
However, notwithstanding my view, i feel ZAWA should crop these beasts before more lives are lost. A life is a LIFE regardless of the nature of death.
#12, 3 Please there is nothing female about seeking to grow a crop to feed your family..the days of women waiting on men to feed them are non-existence..recall these beasts have being destroying their crops but if one understands elephants this one must have had an earlier encounter with man..true she took a risk but look at it from the economics of survival….and yes ZAWA must not wait for MMD,Upnd, PF, Unip, PACT or Post to do their job….I hope the family can sue their sorry ass with that of the Attoreny General and seek compensation.
Sad story, but yes the women should have been on the look out as these beast has no mercy to human.Zawa protects wild life and the wild animals have the right of way………animals have to be protected.Respect wild animals, period.In this situation it is sad indeed that a life has been lost, MHSRIP
Ba Muleya you don’t know what you are talking about. A womans duty in the field ends before dusk. If there is any guarding to be done, the man is supposed to be doing it. It’s either the deceased was a widow, on her way to/from somewhere or maybe the husband was away somewhere doing goodness knows what. Don’t come with that feminist nonsense. There’s no feminism ku munzi.Zawa is a government institution and should work in conjunction with the ministry of lands to determine where human settlements are meant to be.#9 Jazzman Chikwakwa, you hit the nail on the head. It’s human encroachment. There is more than enough land in Zambia that will be able to sustain both human and animal populations at present. Our human population is not too much to deal with at present
sad story to read, rest in peace woman.
MHSRP but what was she doing at 22:00hrs? The councillor shud warn his pipo not to be in the fields after 18:00 hrs US in PF WE shall restructure ZAWA
Condolences. Why can’t we talk about things logically without everything becoming political? Some one died a mother pay respect and move on, shoot the elephant and mitigate the situation ZAWA.
Human-Animal conflict is complicated. The solution is not just about shooting the elephants, there is more to it. I have come face to face with elephants before during the day. When they charge, there is little you can do! Its easy to fight off a lion than an elephant, they are bullies because they know they are stronger. It is therefore unthinkable for a man worse still a woman to fight off elephants in a maize field at 22 hours when everything from numbers, size, vision etc were against her. MHSRIP. ZAWA please do more, when elephants start killing it becomes a habit and more people are likely to be killed.
Human-Wildlife conflict has been around Africa for ages and more complex to deal with as long as human population grows. Humans are actually growing in number compared to wild animals whose territory has been invaded for agriculture. ZAWA has a mandate to deal with these issues and in this case control the animal bu either scaring it away or killing it. Besides do you expect ZAWA to deploy a scout at each and every field to scare Elephants.
Lower Zamezi is a game management area and even if ZAWA can protect assuming everyone was to be in their fields at 22 hrs or such hours can it work. On the ZIm side of the game park they are no settlements. Sad situation though and MHSRIP.
It`s sad to the demise of this woman.The ZAWA should find ways and means to stop these wild animals killing people.If i can recall properly, early 70s in South Luangwa National Park they use to crop animals which were in large numbers.The ZAWA should start cropping these animals which are in LARGE numbers to save human lives.