GUTU — Marauding baboons and monkeys are wreaking havoc here, digging out newly-planted seeds, crops and killing livestock.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The baboons target small domestic animals such as chicken, ducks, sheep and goats, which are easy to kill.
Villagers who spoke to Standardcommunity last week said they could face another food crisis this year because the animals were affecting their farming operations.
The most affected villages include Munemo, Chezira, Murapata and Magaya because they are near big mountains such as Chiunidza, Tsinga and Cheshumba.
The villagers said the wild animals had run out of food which they usually scrounge for in the mountains and had resorted to putting up a fight to get what they wanted.
“Our lives depend on farming and if this problem continues, then we are going to die of hunger,” said Maria Chingwere of Munemo Village. “If we plant our maize or groundnut seeds today, the next day you wake up and the animals would be digging along the lines, plucking out the seeds.”
Another villager, Mathius Majoni, said the animals were also killing domestic animals.
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“Apart from plucking the seeds from the ground, the animals are killing chickens, guinea fowls, goats and sheep,” he said. The villagers said at times they tried to scare them away by making noise and putting scarecrows, but this had failed to stop the hungry animals.
“We spend our time in the fields but the animals continue to troop in. A troop of baboons is very stubborn and sometimes we run for our lives,” said Majoni.
Headman Simba Munemo of Munemo Village, said they would soon engage the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management to assist them in dealing with the animals.
“This season is worse than before and we are trying to engage responsible authorities like Parks and Wildlife Management to help us,” he said.
Wild animals like baboons usually come into conflict with people when they face food shortages.
