A HWANGE woman believed to be in her 40s was reportedly airlifted to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo after allegedly being trampled by an elephant.
Identified as Loveness Ncube from Number 3 Makwika Village, the woman was reportedly picking charcoal from the old mine dumpsite when the jumbo attacked her.
Sources in Hwange said she may have broken her spine.
She was rushed to St Patrick's Hospital from where she was later transferred to Bulawayo as her condition was critical.
Hwange residents have called for urgent finalisation of the Parks and Wildlife Bill which is being crafted.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife has been consulting citizens countrywide towards crafting the Bill.
Government is also working on coming up with a Human Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund whose object will be to compensate victims or families of attack by animals.
"A sad event occurred in Hwange when an elephant tramped Loveness Ncube. This emphasises how urgently the bill needs to be amended in order to assist those who have been harmed by conflicts between people and wildlife. For her transfer to Bulawayo, she is having difficulty raising the ambulance fees. The fact that wild animals have an ambulance but human victims do not have one is shocking. These conflicts will only grow more frequent as climate change becomes more severe," posted Green Shango Environment Trust diretcor Mr Daniel Sithole on his X handle.
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A Hwange resident said: "While the Parks Bill provides for the HWC Relief Fund, it's important that local communities come up with their own home grown mitigation measures like a fund or insurance scheme to cater for such eventualities. To wait for the Bill maybe too late."
Makwika residents have been mobilising resources to assist the woman with medical expenses.
Women Coalition of Zimbabwe chapter chairperson for Hwange Ms Sithembinkosi Ndlovu said women are at higher risk as they fend for families.
"There is need to hold people involved accountable but authorities would argue that she was trespassing in a private concession area. So as women we would like to say they should prioritise life so that at least if she gets treatment since she is not a Hwange Colliery employee who can access services at the Colliery Hospital.
"The Parks and Wildlife Management Bill whose provisions will be compensation in such circumstances is still being debated so such cases may not even get help. We also want to put it that proposals for victims to apply for the fund will not work because the person that needs help will be bedridden and in urgent need of treatment," she said.
A resident recently lost a car after being attacked by an elephant which crashed the vehicle along Makwika road from town.
The animals stray into human settlements because the bush has been invaded by open cast mining especially in the Table Mine area which has closed wildlife corridors thereby fueling human-wildlife conflict. - Chronicle
