Human-elephant conflict

The search for effective measures to deal with human-elephant conflict is one of the
most significant challenges for elephant management. The AfESG meets this challenge
through the work of its Human Elephant Conflict Working Group.

The conservation of the African elephant, a "flagship" species of global significance, provides
tremendous opportunities for simultaneously conserving biodiversity and increasing benefits to
local communities. The full range of such benefits is extensive and includes improved access to
natural capital; improved livelihood opportunities; improvements to social capital; greater food
security and reduced vulnerability to ecosystem degradation. Owing to their role as "keystone"
and "umbrella" species that help maintain biodiversity of the ecosystems they inhabit, the
contribution of elephants to achieving overarching global biodiversity conservation objectives
can be significant. The cultural and aesthetic values of elephants are also important, not only to
African societies, but to the world at large. 

However, as African elephant range becomes more and more fragmented and as elephants get
confined into smaller pockets of suitable habitat, humans and elephants are increasingly coming
into contact and in conflict with each other.

Elephants impact negatively on local communities in many ways e.g. by raiding crops, killing
livestock, destroying water supplies, demolishing grain stores and houses, injuring and even
killing people. The costs of such conflict can be significant.

In most African nations today, the real and perceived costs of human-elephant conflict (HEC)
greatly outweigh the potential benefits and, subsequently, elephants are increasingly being
excluded from many parts of their former range. Once the elephants are gone, however, the local
communities will have lost a valuable asset, while at the same time contributing to the loss of
biodiversity and overall degradation of the ecosystems on which they depend for their
livelihoods.

n order to meet this challenge, in 1997 the African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) officially
inaugurated a five-member Human-Elephant Conflict Task Force. In 2002 this was re-named the
Human-Elephant Conflict Working Group (HECWG) to more accurately reflect the ongoing
nature of its work.

The HECWG's role is essentially one of 'technical facilitation' revolving around the following
activities:
   Helping to reduce HEC by developing mutually beneficial strategies for elephant
conservation and improvement of human livelihoods.
 Providing technical advice and expertise to elephant range state governments or other
conservation support agencies on the management of HEC
 Linking people with an interest in, and co-ordinating activities with respect to HEC
 Fulfilling a catalytic role in getting HEC related studies underway

Every year during the summer rainy season in the KAZA region, elephant begin to raid crops of
local villages and towns. This creates what is known as a human wildlife conflict. For many
people in rural villages their crops are their main source of food, and one night of elephant
raiding can wipe out the entire year’s food supply. On the other hand, with more and more
pressure of human settlements, and human activities in traditional safari areas and wildlife
corridors, elephant are expanding into neighboring towns. This has led to situations in which
elephant are losing their fear of people, and coming into close contact with humans.

In an effort to conserve the elephants in the regions, the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust together
with Connected Conservation, are testing out the use of chili pepper as a deterrent against
elephant invading human settlements. Many projects throughout Africa are attempting the use of
chili pepper and many other forms of deterrents; ranging from bees to trenches as a way to
prevent elephant from transgressing into human habituated areas. However, the Trust has found
that a range of measures need to be used depending on the situation: planting chili plants along
perimeters, or using chili powder in grease on rags along the boundaries may be a good passive
deterrent, but a more aggressive role may need to be taken when elephant are already in the
crops.
Since April 2010, the Trust has been testing out the use of a potato gun that shoots ping pong
balls (instead of potatoes) full of chili oil and chili powder. The balls explode on impact when
they hit the elephant. Elephant do not like the smell of chili, and the sound of the potato gun
firing a ping pong ball, combined with the feel of the impact of the ball and the smell of the chili
drives the elephant away from the source (in this case the human settlements). The chili powder
and oil has no harmful effects to the elephant, it easily gets wiped off when the elephant throws
mud on itself or wallows in the next waterhole. It is well documented that elephant have a
remarkable memory and we are hoping to prove, over time, that chili pepper will deter elephant
from returning to settlements, and aid in conserving elephant in the region.

If we are going to conserve elephants and reduce their conflict with people, it is crucial we have
the support of the local communities.

Frequent community education and training is important to build trust and ensure a long-term
strategy to reduce human-elephant conflict. Each year, the Trust works in collaboration with
external consultants from African wildlife Management and Conservation to run human-wildlife
conflict training programs in each community around Victoria Falls.
Monitoring hot-spots of elephant conflict

In 2017, the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust partnered with a private consulting company,

“Connected Conservation” to undertake a long-term elephant monitoring project to better
understand corridor movements of conflict bull elephants through the community areas
surrounding of Victoria Falls. Since July 2017 we have successfully attached GPS collars to 10
adult bull elephants in order to track their movements along ‘wildlife corridors’ and through
communal areas. This research will help to map ‘Hot-Spot’ areas of human-elephant conflict so
that we can better direct our elephant management efforts on the ground. With this research we
hope to improve community livelihoods by reducing the number and extent of crop-raiding
elephants, and assess corridors utilized by elephant.

Victoria Falls residents are enduring a torrid time fending off stray elephants that destroy their
backyard gardens and charge at people on the streets.

Some city residents from Mkhosana and Chinotimba high density suburbs told VicFallsLive
that they were spending sleepless nights trying to protect their property from the giant world
animals.

The residents said the elephants destroy security walls to enter their homes in search of
vegetables grown in backyard gardens.

Bernard Phiri, a Chinotimba resident, said one of the problem elephants was first spotted
roaming around Chinotimba Primary School.

“On two consecutive days, it passed through that street just in the evening and people had to
ward it off by clapping their hands, screaming and some beating containers,” Banda said.

“We are worried that if this problem is not solved, a life will be lost,

“My neighbour had his vegetables destroyed from his garden and he had to pluck off the stems
to start afresh.”

Caroline Ncube, a Mkhosana resident, said they were being forced to be innovative to keep the
elephants at bay.
“They disturb our lives because we are now forced to guard our vegetable gardens all night,”
Ncube said.

“I rub elephant dung on the plants in the garden and l also spread the same dung around the
vegetable plants to chase them away.

“However, this does not stop the elephants from destroying our vegetables as they just destroy
them if they realise there is elephant dung.”

Kelvin Moyo, Combined Victoria Falls Resident Association chairperson, said they had
engaged the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) to address the
issue of problem elephants.

Moyo said Zimparks officials informed them that one of the elephants had been shot dead
around the Inyati area on Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether it was the same elephant that has been terrorising
residents from around the Mkhosana, Chinotimba and Aerodrome as well as in some low-
density areas.

Residents said another elephant was spotted near Victoria Falls Primary School along
Kazungula Road on the same day.

Moyo said although they appreciated that wild animals would encroach into the city regularly
because it was surrounded by the Zambezi National Park, they still expected Zimparks to keep
residents safe.

“We still want to make it clear that human life is important compared to animal life and the
human-wildlife conflict should be minimized by Zimparks quickly responding to distress calls
from residents,” he said.

“We wouldn’t want them to react after we have had an incident that perhaps may have led to a
loss of life.”

Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo blamed the influx of stray elephants in the city to
overpopulation in Zimbabwe’s game reserves.

“We commend what Victoria Falls residents are doing to raise issues about problem animals
because just on Saturday in Gokwe, an elephant trampled to death two people while two others
are battling for their lives in hospital, and again in Mbire, a village head was also trampled to
death by the same mammal in full view of his wife,” Farawo said.

“So, this is a problem that we are struggling to contain.

“We need those people from America and the United Kingdom to understand that our parks are
overpopulated yet our country is not enlarging and that’s why we are in this current dilemma
almost in every district.”

Farawo said Zimparks will continue killing elephants that threaten people’s lives.

“As Zimparks, we stand firm on our decision to kill those animals endangering human lives and
our advice is to have our people report such problem animals and we will react swiftly, “he
said.

The number of people killed by elephants in Zimbabwe continues to increase as the jumbos
move away from their game range into human territory.

In 2020 wild animals, most of them elephants, killed more than 60 people in Zimbabwe while
others sustained permanent injuries following attacks by animals.

Zimbabwe early this year said it was considering culling elephants to reduce their population of
100 000, which it says has become unsustainable.

The country last embarked on the mass culling of elephants in 1988.

Zimbabwe has the second biggest elephant population in Africa after its neighbor Botswana.

Human-Wildlife Conflict: Baboons Terrorize Victoria Falls Supermarkets:

In another human-wildlife incident, baboons are reported to have stormed Victoria Falls
supermarkets and are causing havoc by ambushing people and snatching food from them.

They have become violent and charge at anyone carrying food.

According to Pindula News,  the presence of baboons is not unusual in border towns and
ports of entry such as Victoria Falls including Kazungula, Beitbridge and Chirundu. However,
the baboons have been vicious as they enter shops and houses to steal food.

People around these areas suspect that its behaviour might be triggered by hunger as they
cannot find fast-food leftovers in rubbish bins which are always empty because of lack of
tourism activity and restricted operation of restaurants.

While elsewhere baboons feed on wild fruits in the forest, Victoria Falls and other border
towns’ baboons have developed a liking for homemade food and leftovers from restaurants
hence they move around emptying bins as they scavenge for leftovers.

A few days ago a baboon caused a stir when it entered OK Supermarket and stole a packet of
chips.

It attempted to go in through the front door but was chased away. Undeterred, it returned to
enter through the roof and jumped into the shop through the ceiling, leaving shoppers
shocked.

The baboons have reportedly been breaking windows to gain entry into shops.

A news crew has been observing baboons scavenging for food in bins that they empty thereby
polluting the area.

Some move in troops while others attack as individuals.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, some residents said the baboons had turned Victoria Falls
into a war zone.

“We clean baboon poo in the office almost every day. I think they had mastered the lockdown
business hours and would enter the shops once people knock off. Lately they have been breaking
into shops even in the presence of people. They broke two window panes into our shop and have
been sneaking inside and mess around before entering the ceiling. Sometimes we see them
peeping inside wanting to come in,” said an employee at one of the shops.

Residents have appealed to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority
(ZimParks) to drive the baboons away.

They said it’s now risky to move around carrying food as the baboons can differentiate plastic
bags from food outlets from those from other shops.

It is reported that women have fallen victim to the menacing baboons more than men.
Recently some baboons ambushed three women who were carrying some groceries forcing
them to seek refuge at the ZimParks town office.

“Some now camp in front of Chicken Inn or OK shops and snatch whatever they see people
carrying. One baboon recently caused a stir when it entered OK shop, went on top of a butchery
fridge before jumping onto a nearby shelf where it snatched a packet of chips and fled. On
another day they charged at a man who had just bought two pies and he threw them down as he
fled,” said a source.

Tourism operators fear the baboons will harass tourists if they are not driven away.

“Baboons have become a real menace in town because companies are closed and there is no
food in rubbish bins.

“These problem animals may continue to harass people when tourism opens as this is their new
behaviour hence we implore national parks to capture them and migrate them elsewhere,” said
tourism executive Mr Clement Mukwasi.

Councillor Netsai Shoko whose Ward 2 covers the central business district said the situation
has gone out of hand.
She implored ZimParks to drive away the animals.

“The baboons are now roaming freely and terrorising residents and school children from whom
they also snatch school bags. “People can’t freely walk around carrying groceries. Last week we
rescued a small boy in Chinotimba as baboons charged at him because he was carrying some
food. They get into yards and sneak into houses where they open fridges and cupboards to steal
food. Nearly everyone is complaining about the baboons and ZimParks has to do something,”
said Clr Shoko.

These baboons are reported to have taken control of rural communities as well.

Chief Whange said some villagers in Kasibo are staring hunger after their maize crops were
eaten by marauding baboons.

“We have a serious problem of baboons. They are too many and we have reported to rangers
who drove them away but they have come back. People were expecting a bumper harvest but
their fields have been destroyed,” he said.
THE RISE OF BABOONS AGAINST HUMANS IN VICTORIA FALLS
The chachma baboon is in the biggest primate family containing sixty species around the world
There are three types of primates in Zimbabwe, the chachma baboon ,vervet and samango
monkey. The primate troops are ordinarily have well-chosen sleeping sites in tall trees and cliff
faces.

The distance they travel during the day in look for food relies generally upon its accessibility.
Baboons don’t generally get back to a similar resting site however may have a few inside their
home range.

These folks have just three needs in a day:

 To discover food
 To play and prepare
 To keep away from predation
The eating regimen of primates is chiefly veggie lover ,benefiting from wild natural products
,rhizomes ,berries, leaves ,roots, bulbs ,tubes,buds likewise they can eat creature food
sources ,bugs ,scorpions ,centipedes ,reptiles ,and little birds.

There are factors which have prompted the contention among baboons and people:

1. Human rich food has extraordinary taste

Individuals out of obliviousness, some out of fervor and compassion toward these folks, they
toss food at these folks as to take care of them. It is out of this demonstration by people which
has made the primates to foster a propensity for attacking individuals’ homes and vehicles or
once in a while powerfully take food from individuals as they leave stores.

2. Drought – No Food in the Wild

Throughout the long term Zimbabwe has experience genuine dry season spells excluding year
2020, the shortfall of food due to dry spell has constrained baboons to move out of the wild to
strike individuals’ homes and vehicles, shops in look for food.

3. Baboon expanded populace

The fast expansion in primate populace has prompted the lack of assets as far as food and
water in wild, the only alternative baboons have is to visit people habitation looking for food
and water.
4. Poor waste management
The utilization of opened cabbage canisters have drawn in a great deal of these creatures since
they approach feed from these containers. The City Council just gathers waste once each week
thus the accessibility of food stuffs in these canisters have drawn in a ton of baboons.

5. Ecosystem imbalance
Lions and leopards for quite a long time have achieved an equilibrium in the environment by
feeding on these folks ,especially being mainstay to the leopards ,yet the decline of these super
felines which is another issue to investigate has permitted the baboon populace to increment
over the typical ,henceforth they started to infringe in the human residence.

Hyena Research in Victoria Falls

The Zambezi Hyena Project was initiated in August 2015 by the African Lion and
Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) and Lion Encounter (LE). Since then, a number of
milestones have been attained and new research questions have arisen pertaining to the
spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) population in Zambezi National Park (ZNP) and surround.
As one of the apex predators, hyenas have an important ecological role for maintaining
prey populations and controlling the disease. As predators, they are often involved in
incidences of human-wildlife conflict. Understanding the ecology and behaviour of the
spotted hyena is of great conservation importance to provide evidence-based
management guidelines for conservation practitioners, researchers and reserve
managers and mitigation of conflict with humans.
This project aims to assess the population ecology of the spotted hyenas and also their
relationship with their key competitors such as lions. The survey also aims to identify key
habitat elements which are the den sites and establish a description of the hyenas in
terms of their mortality and survival as well as establish their key food sources.
Hyena is chiefly nocturnal, therefore studying them entails a great deal of challenging
night work. monitoring a small number of collared individuals, coupled with the use of
camera traps is yielding valuable information on the population size, movements and
home ranges of the hyena within the park and surrounding areas. Scat analysis is
providing further information on the diets and prey preferences.
Increasing the number of monitored individuals will produce more comprehensive data
and improve our emerging understanding of the population and its dynamics.

oThe Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust (VFWT) in conjunction with the Oxford Wildlife Conservation Unit
(WildCru) based in Hwange National Park, Main Camp have been liaising on a project together with the
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) and the local rural community near
Victoria Falls.  The first phase of the project is a survey in the rural community in which a local
researcher has been evaluating all human wildlife conflict incidents.  A response unit has also been
established for human-predator conflicts in which the research team working together with ZPWMA
respond to quantify any damage as well as to evaluate any mitigation techniques used to deter the
animal.

A major component of this program involves hosting groups of school children at the Wild Horizons
Wildlife Orphanage and Sanctuary for a day of conservation awareness and interaction.  Every week
throughout the school year VFWT together with Environment Africa host a group of school children
from the area to learn about wildlife and interact with some of the orphaned animals that VFWT
currently looks after.  Each school is given training manuals for the teacher’s to use in the classroom
which promotes wildlife conservation of a range of academic subjects for various ages.  It is the aim of
this conservation program to decrease the number of animals being poached, as well as to help
children correctly identify wildlife species and to see the benefit of wildlife economically.   

A goal of this project is to determine the number of human-wildlife conflict incidents, species causing
the conflicts, and to be able to quantify the amount of damage or impact caused from the conflicts. 
Prey and predator densities will also be evaluated in the area.   From this data Phase two of the project
will then be to implement mitigation solutions depending on the cause of the conflicts.  There are a
range of options available from the use of chili and/or bees as a deterrent for elephant, to predator safe
boma designs for protection of livestock. 

Phase One Results to date:

Over the last year the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust has been conducting a human wildlife conflict
project in the Hwange Rural district communal lands bordering Victoria Falls.  Throughout the
year over 190 villages have been interviewed to determine the level of conflict villages have with
wildlife.  The questionnaire will also ascertain what, if any, mitigation efforts are employed to try
and deter wildlife from either crop raiding or predation of livestock.  This survey follows on from
similar surveys undertaken by Hwange Lion Research, in the Hwange area.  In addition to the
survey, a predator conflict hotline was established in which people were able to phone and
report any incidents.  VFWT then deployed a team to independently investigate each incident. 

In 2011, there were over 300 predator conflict incidents reported.  A majority of the livestock
killed were cattle, followed thereafter by donkeys.  The main predator species which was
independently assessed to be responsible for the incidents was lion followed by hyena.  In one
incident a single lioness was responsible for killing more than 15 livestock in one week.  The
total quantitative value of livestock losses due to predation amounts to more than $91,000 for
2011.  For people living in rural communal lands this translates to a huge loss economically. 
VFWT aims to work with local communities to evaluate potential solutions to decreasing
livestock losses and preserving wildlife populations.   

VFWT hopes to be able to continue the survey in the communal lands as well as to maintain the
conflict hotline and conflict incident team.  Additionally VFWT hopes to deploy some satellite
collars onto lions in the region.  This will allow for spatial analysis of the movements of the cats
and to help in identifying corridors areas between mixed land use types for conservation
efforts.  Additional analysis of all of the data gathered from both the oral survey and the conflict
reports will be completed in conjunction with Oxford WILDCRU, Hwange Lion Research project. 
VFWT would like to thank SCIF for the grant funding which sponsored this project. 
Click here to return to Wildlife Research or Projects
 We reviewed the
historical records of attacks by saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) and the removal of problem
saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory of Australia. Between 1977 and 2013, 5,792 problem
crocodiles were removed, of which 69.04% were males and 83.01% were caught within the Darwin Crocodile
Management Zone where suitable breeding habitats were hardly available. The most common size class
was 150–200 cm and their mean size did not change significantly over years. This reflected the greater
mobility of juvenile males as the majority of problem crocodiles, dispersing from core habitats that were
occupied by dominant individuals. Eighteen fatal attacks and 45 non-fatal attacks occurred between 1971
and 2013. The rate of crocodile attacks, particularly non-fatal cases, increased over time. This increase was
strongly related to the increasing populations of both humans and crocodiles, and the increasing proportion
of larger (>180 cm) crocodiles. The management of human-crocodile conflict (HCC) should incorporate both
human (e.g., public education and safety awareness) and crocodile (e.g., population monitoring, removal of
problem crocodiles) components. Crocodiles in the 300–350-cm class were most responsible for attacks,
and they should be strategically targeted as the most likely perpetrator. Approximately 60% of attacks
occurred around population centers including remote communities. Problem crocodile capture and attacks
both peak in the beginning (Sep–Dec) and end (Mar–Apr) of the wet season. However, fatal attacks
occurred almost all year around. Attacks by crocodiles >400 cm often resulted in death of the victim
(73.33%). Local and male victims were much more common than visitors and females, respectively. The
most common activity of victims was swimming and wading. Despite the increasing rate of attacks over
time, the Northern Territory's management program, and in particular the removal of problem crocodiles
from urban areas, is considered to have reduced potential HCC. Public education about crocodile awareness
and risks must be maintained. © 2014 The Wildlife Society. o
Male problem crocodiles (69.04%) were more common than females, reflecting the greater mobility of males
as reported by tracking studies (Brien et al. 2008, Campbell et al. 2013). The most common class of problem
crocodiles were 150-250-cm (Fig. 5), and the mean total length of captured crocodiles did not significantly
change over years (Fig. 4), indicating that these immature juvenile males have always been the major
contributor to the problem crocodile issue in the DCMZ. This is consistent with observations that smaller
male C. porosus show greater range of movement than larger, more dominant males in core habitats
( Campbell et al. 2013).
Problem animals

The Parks and Wildlife Act classifies three animal species as problem animals.

They are classified as such because they are problematic. Baboons, spotted hyenas and jackals are the
problem animals.

The wild or hunting dog used to be on this list until it was removed and transferred to the list of “specially
protected animals” on March 20, 2020 through Statutory Instrument 71 of 2020.

Hyenas are known to wreak havoc and terrorise villagers in many rural areas in Zimbabwe. They usually
prey on calves and goats.

In 2018, a six-year-old boy was viciously killed by a hyena in Buhera. In another sad case that occurred in
September last year, a two-year-old child was mauled to death by a pack of hyenas in Kanyemba.

Baboons are a menace to tourists and residents. They are thieves by nature. They mostly terrorise women
and children. While town baboons often break vehicle windscreens, house roofs, doors and windows to pilfer
food, rural baboons usually go for crops, chickens and goats.

Main causes of human wildlife conflict (HWC)

Resource competition between growing human populations and wildlife is a major cause of HWC.

Humans end up encroaching into game reserves thereby increasing human-wildlife interactions.

Illegal fishing has been identified as a key cause of hippo and crocodile attacks on humans.

Illegal hunting for food reduces prey populations thereby forcing predators to turn on livestock.

Vandalism of game reserve perimeter fences, unsatisfactory response by the responsible authorities and
growth in animal population also contribute to the rise in HWCs.

On elephant population in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks)
reported that the elephant population has exceeded 80 000 against a carrying capacity of 50 000.

Possible solutions

Sustainable wildlife management is the key to HWC.

This entails the effective management of wildlife species to sustain their populations and habitat over time,
taking into consideration the socio-economic needs of human populations.

Retaliation killing is an emotional and not a sustainable solution. Some of the animals that have been killed
in retaliation in Zimbabwe are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of animals at the
risk of extinction.

Public awareness, education programmes about wildlife and involving communities in the related planning
and management of wildlife can lead to changed attitudes with an increased appreciation of wildlife and
tolerance of wildlife damage.

Commendable is the government’s Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources
(initiative which was designed to stimulate sustainable community use of natural resources.

Such initiatives, however, ought to be well managed to ensure payment of compensation is done in the
event of losses resulting from HWCs.

Responsible authorities ought to erect sustainable fences around all game reserves and national parks.
Vandalised fences should timeously be repaired.

Livestock husbandry practices such as herding during the day, avoiding predator’s home ranges and
keeping livestock in predator-proof enclosures at night protects livestock from prowling animals.

Government should, where necessary, do wildlife translocation. This is the movement of animals from a
problematic or overpopulated zone to a new site.

Last year, ZimParks commendably announced that 600 elephants, two prides of lions, 50 buffaloes among
other animals were to be transferred from the Save Valley Conservancy to less-congested parks.

Zimbabwe and other countries have been repeatedly but unsuccessfully calling upon the regulator of global
wildlife trade, Cites to uplift the ban on international trade in ivory.

Commendable is Parliament’s recent proposal to use birth control pills as a way of curbing the rising
population of elephants in Zimbabwe.

If no serious practical efforts are made to address HWC in Zimbabwe, precious human lives and livestock
will continue to be lost at disturbingly high rates.

Citizens and tourists will continue being trampled and injured by elephants and other prowling animals.
Government must be seen condemning retaliation killing of wildlife.

Those who suffer HWC losses ought to be compensated. Sustainable wildlife management is the strategic
solution to human-wildlife conflicts.
urces from areas such as the town dumpsite or sites where waste is dumped illegally.