Elephant attacks; a source of worry in Livingstone (Zambia)

The behaviour of elephants in Livingstone is very worrying and 'Get Wild' cannot go silent on this issue especially that human lives are at stake.
There seems to be a big human-animal conflict in the area as witnessed by recent experiences.

In September this year, Chrispin Matali a resident of Simonga village in Livingstone was trampled to death by an elephant while his son watched helplessly and only managed to report his father's fate to the village.

The beast was later gunned down by officers from the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), by means of cropping which usually involves a single gun shot to the animals head. However, the officers found about seven to eight bullet wounds on the elephant’s rump from an unestablished source.

The latest development is the attack on 17-year-old, Nixon around Kasiya area which confirms the magnitude of the problem.
Luckily, the boy miraculously survived the attack when the jumbo chased him while he was riding a bicycle forcing him to abandon it and run for his life before the beast caught up with him and hammered him several times on the ground and trees.

And ZAWA veterinary wildlife doctor, Waginson Matandiko says elephants are good with people but could be very aggressive if they have been disturbed, like being hunted. He says it is at this stage the animals become foes to humans and turn into killers.
"It looks like most of these animals that are aggressive could be coming from across (the Zimbabwe border) and are agitated from there," he says.

Matandindiko alleges that the soldiers from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces could have been allowed to hunt the animals for ration.
"I suspect that the soldiers from Zimbabwe Defence Forces have been allowed to hunt the animals for ration," he says.
He adds that the recent rescue of a calf on one of the islands leaves no doubt the mother was killed by hunters.

And when mother elephant are killed the baby elephants risk being killed by lions, leopards and other cats as they are unfit to defend themselves at this stage.

It is a known fact that elephants are good towards people. The attack by this animal on humans is instigated by its wounds and the public should always try to avoid injuring or wounding wildlife as the consequences are could be fatal.

There's need for everyone living in these areas to know that it is important for humans and wildlife to co-exist and that elephants could be very aggressive when they are agitated.