Concern over animal attacks in Kavango

Concern has been raised about the increasing number of people who have been killed in incidences of wildlife conflict in the Kavango East Region. The governor of the region, Dr Samuel Mbambo, raised the concern during a briefing with Vice-President Dr Nickey Iyambo who is on a familiarisation tour of the region.He noted that the deaths occur mostly at 'Rundu Beach' and in the Ndiyona and Mukwe constituencies.“Crimes of concern in the region are rape, poaching, murder, housebreaking, theft and animal-related deaths,” he said.Iyambo was accompanied by agriculture minister John Mutorwa, the deputy minister of Environment and Tourism Tommy Nambahu, as well as senior officials from the Office of the President.Since 2013, some 116 lives have been lost to drowning and animal attacks. The numbers have remained high over the years.In 2013, 34 drownings, one hippo attack and three crocodile attacks were recorded.In 2014, 34 people drowned and four crocodile attacks were recorded, while in 2015, 15 drowning, 12 crocodile attacks, three snake bites and four elephant attacks were recorded.In 2016, three people drowned and three were attacked by crocodiles. One person has drowned so far this year.Iyambo said government could look into building crossing points for people to use in order to reduce the water-related deaths.During the past five years nearly 60 people have been killed by wild animals while 11 others were injured. A massive 25 867 livestock, which includes cattle, goats sheep and donkeys, have been killed by wild animals since 2013 while 1 524 hectares of crops have been destroyed. These statistics includes up-to-date data for this year which was made available by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta at the National Conference on Human Wildlife Conflict Management. The ministry said in the first two months of this year seven people have already been killed by wild animals and 55 livestock have been killed while 57 hectares of crops were destroyed.Meanwhile some of the latest figures available of crocodiles in Namibia indicate that in the Kavango river system there were 376 crocodiles in 2014 and in the Mahango river system 276 crocodiles in 2014 while in 2015 there were 250 crocodiles in the Zambezi/Chobe river system and in the Kwando river system there were 680 crocodiles in 2015. In the Kunene there were 1 065 crocodiles in 2013. In recent years crocodiles have become a major problem causing human wildlife conflict, with between six to eight people that are killed annually by crocodiles and hippos in the regions. Annually between 30 livestock are killed by crocodiles. -Additional reporting by Nampa ELLANIE SMIT

Concern over animal attacks in Kavango

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

Please login to leave a comment

Concern over animal attacks in Kavango

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

Please login to leave a comment

Login