Giraffe saved from hungry crowd in Zimbabwe

Source: Telegraph

Date: 24 September 2007

Author: Sebastien Berger Southern Africa Correspondent

Hungry Zimbabweans threatened to kill and eat a giraffe after it wandered towards the outskirts of the capital Harare, it has emerged.

Scores of people rushed to the scene after the adult giraffe entered Seke district from surrounding farmland. Police said several wanted to butcher the animal "for the pot", according to the state-owned Herald newspaper.

"We have to guard the animal," said one officer. "We have to remain here until it is taken to a safe place."

The incident comes as wild game increasingly falls victim to President Robert Mugabe's policies, with impoverished Zimbabweans turning to any possible source of meat. Poaching is reportedly rising rapidly, with two elephants recently killed in Hurungwe.

Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe conservation taskforce, said earlier this month: "Wild animals have become the latest victim of this economic crisis.

"We are getting reports from all over the country about an increasing number of baby elephants, buffalo and other animals being killed or injured in snares."

He said Zimbabwean soldiers were often responsible for poaching. "We think it has to do with the fact that they are very lowly paid and they sell the meat to shop owners to raise cash."

Red meat has effectively disappeared from shops since President Mugabe imposed price controls in June and left producers unable to cover their costs.

The move followed his destruction of the agricultural sector by seizing white-owned farms.

Inflation is now in excess of 6,500 per cent, although independent estimates put it much higher, and the economy is grinding to a standstill.

Earlier this year Zimbabwe was elected to chair the UN's commission on sustainable development. It was Africa's turn to chair the body and the continent chose Zimbabwe to take on the role — an illustration of the continued diplomatic support Mr Mugabe enjoys from some leaders.

 

RELATED ARTICLE FROM THE HERALD - 22 September

IT was a tall tale in Seke yesterday when a stray giraffe drifted into the communal lands, while it was monkey business in downtown Harare as a vervet bounded around the Julius Nyerere Parkade.

The giraffe is believed to have broken out from surrounding farms or a nearby game park, while the monkey is probably a stray from a troop that has moved into Harare Gardens, but it could be an escaped pet.

Several of the villagers wanted to slaughter the giraffe for the pot, but officers from Dema Police Station restrained the crowd.

Scores of people from Munemo, Madamombe, Svondo and Chigumbu villages, among them schoolchildren, rushed to catch sight of the giraffe. Many had never seen one before.

Business came to a halt at Madamombe Primary School after the animal attracted the attention of pupils and their teachers.

Others suggested slaughtering the animal for meat.

At around 10am the animal was now in Chigumbu Village under police guard awaiting the arrival of National Parks and Wild- life Management Authority officials.

"We have to guard the animal until National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials arrive. Some villagers wanted to slaughter it so we have to remain here until it is taken to a safe place," one of the officers said.

A teenager resident of Svondo Village, Wilson Chatikuta, said this was his first sighting of a live giraffe.

"I have only seen pictures and illustrations of the animal in books so it's quite something to come across a real live giraffe," Chatikuta said.

Another villager, Mr Joshua Mhizha, said Seke residents were puzzled by the presence of the animal as no such sightings had occurred before.

A National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority official said they came to the rescue of the giraffe after receiving a report about its presence.

"We received a report and our team has gone to Seke to take care of the giraffe. We will update you where we will keep it," the official in the operations department said.

The monkey caused commotion in central Harare yesterday as people jostled to catch sight of it.

The monkey was at the parkade long Julius Nyerere Way where it had reportedly been staying for the past week.

"We started seeing the monkey on Monday but we do not know where it came from," said Mr Makesure Chinyoka, a security guard at the parkade.

He said it posed no danger but women motorists in particular were scared and ran away screaming each time they saw it.

Some suggested the monkey could have been let loose by a motorist while others believed it might have strayed from the troop which has been long camping in the nearby Harare Gardens.

"We usually see monkeys running around in the Harare Gardens especially early in the morning and I have every reason to believe that this one could have strayed from that troop and ended up here," said one passer-by.

National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations manager Retired Major Edward Mbewe said they had not received a report about the monkey.

He said it could have strayed from residential areas as some people were keeping such animals as pets.

"Some people are keeping these animals at homes. It, however, becomes a problem when they leave them to roam the streets," he said.

There are large troops of monkeys at Cleveland Dam and in Msasa, and the Mukuvisi Valley provides a "green pathway" for wildlife to move close to the city centre.

The troop in the Harare Gardens could well be offspring of a pair or small group that moved up the valley or entered from the north-west down the Marimba Valley.