Rubavu — Residents of Bugeshi Sector in Rubavu District have seen their prospective harvests slashed by almost Rwf2 million after stray elephants from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo destroyed their crops.
The elephants often cross into the district from the DRC's Virunga national park, where they are not properly watched over.
This month alone, more than 10 jumbos have invaded the area on three occasions, spreading fear among area residents.
Last year, a herd of elephants crossed over and destroyed crops and also killed several domestic animals.
"We have spoken to the DRC authorities about this problem but nothing has been done yet," lamented Eric Kabera, the Executive Secretary of the sector.
"We have talked to Rwanda Development Board who promised to facilitate the digging deep and wide trenches along the points where the elephants cross as a deterrent," Kabera added.
Authorities in the DRC, meanwhile, promised to provide torches to Bugeshi residents to flash at the jumbos as a short term preventive measure since they usually strike at night.
The victims are unlikely to receive any compensation since there is no provision for that under the law.
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It is sad indeed that the people of the area haven't found a way of accommodating the needs of elephants as well as promoting human needs. We all live on this planet. Therefore, we should share its space. Part of the problem seems to be that we humans are reproducing at an alarming rate while other species are seeing their populations decrease at alarming rates as we take over more and more and more of the world's habitable spaces.
I work for the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature ICCN at Virunga National Park in DRC.
I would like to highlight the following. DRC, Uganda and Rwanda share the same landscape of Virunga massif where are located Mountain Gorilla and other wildlife. Elephants as well as buffalos move toward the landscape. It's not fair to say elephants from DRC are making damages in Rwanda.
Crop raiding is a common conservation problem we are facing in the three countries. When buffalos are chased away from ugandan farms, they run into congolese farms in Jomba sector. Same when baboons are chased in ugandan Ishasha sector of Queen Elisabeth, they come to destroy crops in DRC. But Congo never index ugandan wildlife to distroy crops and never claim any payment from ugandan authorities. I do not know the congolese authority who promised to provide torches in Rwanda, ICCN has not been contacted neither by RDB his partner nor by any rwandan administrative authority. Crop raiding in Rwanda has to be addressed by RDB as ICCN also does in DRC.
The three national wildlife authorities co-operate though the Great Virunga Transboundary Collaboration whose core secretariat is based in Kigali. Please contact them for more details.
Ephrem Balole
I would like to echo Mr. Balole's comments regarding the poor and misguided assumptions by the New Times that these elephants had crossed from DRC to Rwanda and are therefore somehow to blame. The Virunga Massif is a transboundary protected area and animals are free to move within this protected area.
The issue of crop raiding by elephants, buffalo, and even gorillas is one that is faced throughout the region and one that should be addressed at the local level between park authorities of that country, local authorities, communities, and support NGOs like IGCP. There are ways to find a viable solution to this issue, in a way that does not point blame across boarders. That blame only detracts from finding a helpful solution.
The most appropriate authority to contact regarding this issue would be the Rwanda Development Board at Volcanoes National Park, who can work with communities to find a solution to the issue.
Anna Behm Masozera, IGCP Communication Officer, abehm@igcp.org
I very much appreciate both of the comments I see printed so far. We humans are in the best position to help create a viable solution for all concerned, and should work cooperatively to see that done rather than simply cast blame on one or another country unless there is very good reason to do so.