Mutares Cecil Kopje elephants, which had become a menace to urbanites in the area, will soon be relocated after trampling a woman to death recently.
Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe director Willie Nduku said the elephants would be moved in the next few months, but refuted claims the relocation was a result of pressure from the community following the tragedy.
They have outgrown the place because an elephant requires one-square-kilometre area to optimally survive and this has become a problem hence the decision to move them to a bigger place. Although a decision as to where they will go is still to be made, they are definitely going to be moved, Nduku said.
He, however, would neither deny nor confirm reports that the elephants had become violent, but residents who live close to the park said the elephants were increasingly becoming a danger to the community.
Our reasons for moving these animals are not motivated by them being a danger to the Mutare community because they have been part of this society for many years, Nduku added.
A woman who reportedly survived on collecting elephant dung for sale at the main Sakubva market is said to have died after being trampled.
The dung is widely used as medicine and is very popular with women so she was the major supplier. The woman seems to have infuriated a breastfeeding female which went on to trample her to death, said the source.
Contacted for comment, Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Enoch Chishiri said the police were still investigatinging the incidents.
