Angry elephant tramples upon man (Zimbabwe)

Author(s)

Newsday

Date Published

A 49-year-old man from Charara Safari in Kariba missed death by a whisker when a provoked elephant trampled on him at an area between Nyamhunga 2 and Batonga.

The man survived the attack, but was severely injured and is currently recovering in hospital.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo confirmed the incident.

She said, according to an eye witness, the elephant was provoked when some children from the area started shouting and throwing stones at the jumbo.

Incensed by the action, the elephant charged at the crowd and knocked down the man before trampling on him.

The same elephant is also suspected to have broken the windscreen of a Nissan Caravan and another glass on the vehicle door which was parked at a house in Kariba.

Washaya-Moyo urged the public not to provoke elephants and to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the animals.

“Throwing objects at elephants will only help in making them easily irritable and will attack the next person they come across,” she said.

She said rangers had since been deployed to the scene of the accident.

Meanwhile, the bodies of two fishermen who were reported missing at Msampa Fishing Camp have been located.
The bodies were retrieved from Starvation Island.

The matter was reported to the police.