Elephants Destroy Maize Field

By Angela Limwanya

A 44 year old small scale farmer of Livingstone has lost an entire maize field to elephants after they attacked his field on Friday and Saturday morning.

PATRICK SICHIKANDAWA has narrated to ZNBC News in an interview that the elephants first visited the field in the early hours of Friday and ate part of his maize that was at maturity stage.

He says officers from the Department of National Parks and WildLife managed to chase the animals on the particular day but they returned the following morning and finished off everything that had remained.

Mr. SICHIKANDAWA, who has three workers, has called on the government to help small scale farmers devise ways to deter the animals from attacking their fields and damaging crops.

But NJOVU African Wildlife Conservation Co-Founder, JACOB KAMPINDU says based on research conducted by the organization last year, it is difficult to have constant mitigation tools for elephants in Livingstone because they are migratory by nature.

Mr. KAMPINDU explains that since the animals migrate from different countries, different mitigation tools have to be applied to the animals for them to adapt.

He says an electric fence is a very effective mitigation tool but most small scale farmers cannot afford to set it up.

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