22 Jan 2026

Lesoma community has called for funds generated from Pandamatenga-Lesoma-Kazungula (PALEKA) Community Trust to be used toward mitigation strategies to address human-wildlife conflict.
This view surfaced during a kgotla meeting addressed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks on Tuesday, in relation to the recent killing of six lions, 16 vultures and a jackal in Lesoma.
One resident, Ms Siphiwe Dube held the view that there was need for empowerment and capacitation of the community on human-wildlife conflict mitigations.
She said if residents agreed to use their portion of annual dividends from PALEKA to address human-wildlife conflict, then a proper scope was to be drafted as a guiding tool.
Kgosi Bafedile Lesoma of Lesoma stated that due to the village’s geographical location nestled between forest reserves and Hwange National Park on the Zimbabwe side, wildlife encroached on residential areas along their corridor.
He said conservation was paramount to them, having coexisted with wildlife for many years hence condemned the killing of animals. Kgosi Lesoma introduced the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an NGO from Zimbabwe as a potential partner that promoted coexistence and harmony of human and wildlife.
He pointed out that he met the NGO representatives at the traditional leaders’ forum on conservation in Zimbabwe where he expressed interest for collaborations to develop concept notes to address human-wildlife conflict.
He said the current economic climate prompted for innovation and collaboration in order to cushion government from the economic strain hence the importance to devise new strategies for Lesoma to eliminate human-wildlife conflict.
IFAW programmes manager-community engagement Mr Simba Chiseva said Lesoma was privileged to have PALEKA as an income generation wing, raking in millions annually through hunting.He said in order for the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) Act to be effective, communities must champion sustainable conservation then cascade it to government.
Mr Chiseva said IFAW footprint was in 40 countries globally including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia, adding that they earmarked expansion to Botswana and Namibia because they were human-wildlife conflict hotspots.
Chobe District wildlife officer Ms Gaone Nkganetsang proposed that Lesoma community should adopt human- wildlife conflict mitigations in their plans and budget submitted at PALEKA.
She said the community trusts escort guides who are engaged during the hunting season to accompany the investor could be capacitated on human-wildlife strategies to position them better for income generation.
Ms Nkganetsang stated that compensation guidelines were currently under review to include animals like hyenas and baboons as liable for compensation in the event of the damage caused.
The officer indicated that the CBNRM Act espoused sustainable use of natural resources for communities existing around such resources and said killing of wildlife defeated the purposes of the Act.
She pleaded with farmers to stop retaliation killing of animals as it could wipe out a population of some endangered species, “When an animal threatens your property, report to our department or just kill one of the animal species to scare the rest away.” ENDS