Buffaloes kill 13-year-old student and man in Botswana

A 13-year-old student and a man have died after being attacked by buffaloes near Botswana’s Chobe National Park game reserve, the government announced on Thursday.

The Ministry of Environment said wildlife authorities launched a hunt after a buffalo injured on Tuesday a 37-year-old in Kasane, a town on the Chobe river, which marks the vast reserve’s northern border.

Park officials traced the animal to a secondary school where it attacked and killed a 13-year-old by the school’s football grounds, the ministry said.

ALSO READ: Buffaloes doing OK with TB, now elephants are a worry

A day later, another two men were attacked by a lone buffalo in the area. One died of wounds suffered in the incident while the other escaped with only minor injuries.

Authorities said the animal was put down and two more buffaloes roaming near local schools were also killed.

The ministry urged people in the area “to be vigilant at all times as these animals pose danger to human life”.

60 Zimbabweans killed by elephants last year

In another incident of animals clashing with people, at least sixty Zimbabweans were killed by elephants last year.

With 100,000 elephants, Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest population after Botswana, and about one-quarter of the elephants in all of Africa.

Unlike in much of the world, where poachers have killed off the animals for their tusks, Zimbabwe’s elephant population is growing at about five percent a year.

ALSO READ: Hungry elephants, Cameroon farmers struggle to coexist

“In some areas, elephants are moving in numerous herds and have devoured everything in the fields and are now moving into homesteads, forcing community members to retaliate, in the process injuring some of the elephants,” government spokesman Nick Mangwana said on Twitter.

“The injured ones have become aggressive and uncontrollable,” Mangwana said.

“The issue of human and wildlife conflict has become quite emotive. This year alone 60 Zimbabweans have lost their lives to elephants and 50 injured,” he said.

Mangwana said the animals killed 72 people in 2021.

The animals have been roaming outside of Zimbabwe’s sprawling game reserves.

But demographic growth as well as poverty are also forcing rural dwellers in Zimbabwe to move into areas that bring them into conflict with the animals.

READ MORE: 60 Zimbabweans killed by elephants this year