Some 50 elephants, reportedly escaping from a conservation area in Zimbabwe, have invaded residential areas in the Machaze district of Manica province in central Mozambique, an official source announced.
“Early in the morning the population informed us that there was a herd [de elefantes] that moves in Machaze“, said Francisca Tomás, governor of Manica, quoted this Friday by Televisão de Moçambique.
According to the governor, they sent technicians to chase away the animals, believing that they were “just a few elephants, as has been customary” in the region, but “in reality it was a herd of 50,” she said. adding that the group did not make victims.
elephants and other animals invade communities in that district with some frequencydestroying cultivated areas.
According to the authorities, Machaze is on the list of districts that register the most cases of conflict between man and fauna in Manica.
According to the most recent official data, since 2020, a total of 97 Mozambicans have been killed and 66 injured in recorded attacks (others are not even reported) by wild animals, most of them crocodiles, according to the National Protected Areas Administration. Conservation (ANAC).
In the same year, 258 domestic animals, including cattle, sheep and goats, were devoured by lions, hyenas and crocodiles, in addition to 248.81 hectares of crops destroyed.
Source: Observadora
