18 Aug 2021

Gumare wildlife officer in charge Mr Rabogwe Rampete has advised people to desist harassing wild animals’ as doing so could put their lives in danger.

This follows an incident in Gumare where a 26-year-old man was killed by an elephant which was passing through the village on Tuesday.

Mr Rampete stressed that handling or dealing with wild animals should be left to relevant authorities such as wildlife officers.

“What happened in Gumare is not tolerable. People followed the elephant making noise behind it, something which resulted in panic and the animal responded in a manner it did,” he said.

He said wildlife officers had difficulties to gun it down after it had killed the man because people were all over the place.

He said the officers had to avoid stray bullets which might have harmed some in the crowd.

Mr Rampete urged people to always report sights of animals such as elephants within human settlements to the department of wildlife and national parks office or the police.

He also noted that there were thick bushes within or in the periphery of the village, hence human settlements encroachment by wild animals was inevitable.

Gumare police acting station commander, assistant superintendent Jerry Sabata confirmed the incident, which he said occurred around 9am.

He said the deceased was immediately after the incident rushed to Gumare primary hospital where he was certified dead upon arrival. ENDS