By Staff Reporter
PROFESSIONAL hunters finally killed an elephant that killed a 73 –years –old man at Sachona, 130 km south of Katima Mulilo this month.
It took two days for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, together with the Namibian police reserve force unit to hunt and kill the trouble animal, but all to no avail.
The deceased farmer was identified as Mr. Pitrosi Simombo, who was on the way from his village to his homestead at around 8pm, accompanied by a certain young man called Arnold Bbaiwa, the survivor and eye witness who told Caprivi Vision that “ we were walking in a narrow way from the village heading to the farm, then an elephant was standing in front of us, after it destroyed some maize crops in the other fields, the elephant pushed the deceased then he died instantly”
The professional hunters for Omundjebe Hunting Safari, based at Lizauli were contracted to hunt and kill the tusker.
The community ranger for Mashi Conservancy, Mr. Geoffrey Divai confirmed the incidence, saying this was the second of its kind when the other elephant killed a person in the same area in 2006.
When asked on how do they identify the suspected trouble elephant, among the group of elephants , he responded “ the elephant which killed a human being it is always resistant when approached, it will start crying, making a lot of noise when approached by people” Divai pointed out.
According to environment and tourism sources, the elephant meat was given to the deceased’s family, plus N$5000 for funeral as part of the benefits from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
However, another farmer who disclosed his name expressed concerns that “ this is not enough… the life of a human being is important , even millions cannot buy a human being” he therefore urged the government to look and listen into the matters of poor subsistence farmers who have been killed and whose crops and livestock are being destroyed by the trouble animals.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Environment and Tourism has adopted a National Policy on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management in 2009, seeking to provide clarity on the question of compensation with regard to damages caused by wildlife.
Ends…
Loading …