Mr. Banda says the Wildlife officers will intensify patrols and educate people on what to do when they encounter elephants in the national park.
The Minister says government has no plans to move the elephants to another National park because they are wild animals and do not only belong to Zambia but Botswana and Namibia as well.
He said Botswana is facing a similar situation because during this period, elephants move a lot in search of fruits.
Mr. Banda adds that Government’s aim to deploy more Wildlife officials is to safeguard human life.
He was speaking in an interview with ZNBC News in Lusaka.
Just a waste of resources and time. Elephants are very peaceful animals when left alone. What can the officers do if a herd of Elephants decide to cause rampage?
Just stay away from the animals and all will be fine. Nobody gets near, nobody gets hurt – simple as that.
How come NAMIBIA? It does not make sense, I thought Namibia was on the western border side? Or did he mean to say Zimbabwe or Mozambique and Botswana?
Anyway not surprised, most of these PF00ls dunderheads flopped their GCSE’s geography papers….incuding their fake empty Lawyer pretending to be president……
The thing is that when people construct structures like hotels, lodges, campsites, roads, etc, there should be research done in understanding the migratory routes of these animals. If you build in their path of course you will clash at some point, since these are habit animals. Even when they cross the borders, or the rivers, they usually have specific locations where they have been doing it for hundreds of years, so this has to be observed when humans create structures. And as Nine Chale correctly observes, elephants are generally peaceful when left alone. They even warn by flapping their ears before they decide to charge. More training in understanding elephant behaviour is probably necessary for people working in these areas. These are not cute paintings on the wall. These are wild…
….it’s like guarding the stables after the Horses have bolted. Under fives indeed…
@Sisters of Mercy! That is brilliant. Many of the Ba Zungu’s have capitalized by building on the elephants migration path and constructed lodges. One example is Buschamp in Zambia who promote via social media channels like YouTube and Instagram to Twitter abroad because every November, the elephants go through their lodge to go eat mangoes. This has become quite a spectacle in the West. The problem I find is elephants especially when they have calves can be extremely dangerous. Those sparks from the camera’s can agitate them as they are territorial by nature. So who is to blame? Next you’ll hear our ministers saying kill the elephants when its human error! Too bad ama minister are still afraid of aba sungu!
Just kill the elephant that has killed people; Zambia only reacts but does not prepare before time; same think with cholera issue which Lusaka experiences each year; wildlife officers should have been there and should be there all the time where people view elephants or where people cross the park and people should be told when it is safe to cross the people; lodge owners should not allow anyone viewing elephants at any time without armed guards;
The problem is that there are many lodges located in the middle of game parks in this country where workers everyday have to take risky walks to and from work. The lodge owners should provide transport to their workers and tourists just need to be very careful when they are in the territory of the wild animals.View the animals at a safe distance. When they start approaching you or coming in your direction, move away as fast as you. We need these animals as they are a tourist attraction, they bring us dollars.
The elephants will start by sorting out the very person spying on them. Just let them be. Its their territory and you went there to build your funny lodges and hotels. Hotel/lodge owners behave like cadres of a given ruling party. Encroaching on other peoples land