Zambia

Authorities in Zambia said Wednesday they are worried after three deaths were recorded, and a critical injury, in separate elephant attacks in as many days. They cited the deaths of two men and a woman. Most of the encounters occurred during the night. One elderly person is fighting for his life after an encounter. “All these and similar other incidents are regrettable and could have been otherwise avoided had they all adhered to wildlife protected area ethics and rules of avoiding walking at night and molesting elephants,” Dominic Chiinda, from the National Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement in the national capital of Lusaka. He advised residents to exercise extra caution when traversing wildlife hotspots by giving the right of way to elephants when on their corridor and resisting surrounding or harassing elephants with incessant noise and throwing objects at them. “Reduce movements, particularly at night and being too close to elephants, avoid following elephants and taking close photos or selfies and remain calm when you see an elephant,” he added. Due to its vast savanna, the southern African nation has a rich elephant population, with at times migrations from neighboring countries, including Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Most cases of human-animal conflict have also been attributed to human encroachment on national parks and Game Management Areas (GMAs). The issue has also been debated on the floor of the parliament, with select members being granted honorary wildlife police officers to supplement the number of wildlife officers policing Zambia’s 20 national parks and 36 GMAs.