TATENDA CHIKARA IN MASVINGO
Villagers in ward 12 of Chivi district, Masvingo Province, are living in fear of hyenas which are attacking livestock, Business Times can report.
Villagers now fear the hyenas, which they suspect could have escaped from nearby game reserves due to starvation, would attack people as well.
A Mvhundusi villager, Vengesai Nguwi told the Business Times that the hyenas were scavenging at night, and there was danger of them preying on people.
“We now have a serious problem in the form of hyenas here in Mvhundusi village. There are so many that we suspect they escaped from game reserves around Masvingo where they were kept. So maybe because of starvation they now move around,” Nguwi said.
“As a village we wish that the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority help us solve this problem. Hyenas have come as thorn in the flesh,” another villager Takura Makwari said.
Ward 12 councillor, Tedfed Tizai said: “Yes we have a challenge here, hyenas are eating people’s livestock, we spoke to the wildlife management authority but they instructed us to first know where they sleep and live so they can be poisoned.”
Contacted for a comment, Zimparks spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo said they have not received a formal report of the matter.
“We have not received such a case of hyenas, we encourage villagers to make formal reports so that we can assist them,” Farawo said.
Meanwhile, Mazhaugwe villagers from the same ward said they were walking for more than 11km to the nearest Chibi Mission Hospital as the construction of their clinic has stalled due to lack of resources.
They said it was at slab level.
A woman who spoke on anonymity told the Business Times that she gave birth to her twin babies at a shop while waiting for transport to the hospital. “We wish that we have people who can help us with resources so that we can finish our clinic,” the woman said.
Another villager Tonderai Mhosva said many lives would be saved if they are assisted to complete the clinic. “Some people are dying on their way to the hospital because of walking long distances,” he said.
