THIRTY-FIVE people were k!lled by wildlife in 2023 down from 68 d3aths recorded in 2022, Environment and Wildlife minister Sithembiso Nyoni said as she bemoaned cases of human-wildlife conflict.
Nyoni said more than 80 people were left nursing !njuries of various degrees after being att@cked by wild animals last year.
Nyoni said government was in the process of establishing a human-wildlife conflict relief fund, but noted that there would be no compensation for d3ad v@ctims.
She revealed this while responding to written questions recently in Parliament on plans to compensate communities living around Hwange National Park who lost livestock and lives due to human-wildlife conflicts.
“The consequences of human-wildlife conflict are more serious in areas such as communities around Hwange National Park,” Nyoni said.
“Government is setting up a human-wildlife conflict relief fund that will provide relief for the remaining family members of those k!lled and relief for those injur3d and maimed.”
She said the fund would be managed by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks).
“In this regard, we have a programme of community consultation on how they want this fund to be structured, how it will be managed and the design of the necessary modalities for evaluations and technical assessments,” she said
The minister, however, said the fund would not provide compensation for human life lost in wildlife encounters.
“A point of emphasis is that there can never be any compensation for a lost life,” she said.
“I commiserate with the loss of human life in encounters between humans and wildlife.”
She said Zimbabwe continued to face numerous challenges emanating from increased human-wildlife conflict that thr3aten people’s safety and livelihoods.
ZimParks has been struggling to compensate v!ctims of wildlife att@cks in the wake of increased human-wildlife conflicts despite government having approved a human-wildlife conflict relief fund to compensate v!ctims of human-wildlife conflicts in 2022.
In 2021, 71 d3aths and 50 !njured were recorded, compared to 60 d3aths and 40 !njured in 2020.
In 2022, 68 people were k!lled by wild animals.
The country recorded 15 d3aths and 43 !njured during the first quarter of 2023.
SOURCE : NEWSDAY
