The Sunday Mail
Noah Pito —
For five weeks between February and March this year, villagers of Deve Point 4 in Hurungwe West had to relive the chilling Ian Smith-regime era of curfews after two male lions — believed to have strayed from a national park in Gokwe — seized control of the area. Upon slipping into the area, the villagers say the cats spent two nights of continuous roaring with only elders with knowledge about lions recognising that the kings of the jungle had besieged the area.
Chrispen Mangena (45) of Marecha Village and Honest Mashoko (49) of Gono Village, who assist the Hurungwe Rural District Council in monitoring problem animals in Ward 24, last week narrated how the lions imposed a gruelling five-week curfew on the villagers while feasting on their livestock.
“The signal they gave on their arrival was continuous roaring during the night. Most of the people here had never heard the sound of a lion. It was through elders with knowledge about lions that most villagers came to realise that the sounds were from lions in our midst,” said Mangena.
Regis Bakasa of Tafirenyika Village lost a cow to the cats. His cattle pen was destroyed as the cattle tried to stampede to safety. What was to be recovered the next morning was a small piece of the backbone, some entrails and the head. The cats also devoured the foetus in the womb of the cow.
“We also discovered that most of the cattle targeted by the lions were pregnant ones, maybe because of the little resistance they would give. When one of the lions was shot during a joint operation between Hurungwe Rural District Council and National Parks and Wildlife Authority, we thought peace had prevailed but the death of the lion ignited a new era of terror as the remaining lion continued to patrol the villages roaring almost every night. This time the cat seemed more aggressive,” added Mangena.
Mashoko chipped in saying soon after the first lion was shot, villagers in Mudyanadzo, Gono and Tafirenyika did not find sleep as the remaining lion roared all the night at the spot where its partner had been shot down. Most children stopped going to school. The area had turned into the lion’s territory, roaring for nights on end and leaving its prints all over. A donkey was killed in Gorekore Village, followed by a cow in Marecha Village. Villagers realised that the only way to protect their animals was by penning them in the tobacco barns, kitchen huts or even bedrooms.
“Since the arrival of the lions, our local schools had to dismiss children as early as 2pm. The freedom of coming home late from beer drinks also stopped. There was no more going to the bus stop for travelling early in the morning. Most people had to have their supper and barricade their doors as early as 6pm,” said Mashoko.
According to Mashoko, during the night of March 20 — four days before the second rogue lion was shot down, the cat visited Gono village where it pounced on penned cattle belonging to one Muzvazva.
“When Muzvazva heard the sounds from the disturbed cattle, he shouted out to neighbours for help, it was around 11pm. We rushed there and we were about 20 men. It was a few moments after the lion’s usual nocturnal roaring. We burnt thatch grass we pulled from our huts.
“We gave the lion no chance to kill the cow it had targeted. Some wielded axes, some had spears and knobkerries while some threw stones at it. Those with torches in hands flashed at it, as others beat tins to scare it away. We finally chased it before it killed its target, although the cow sustained serious injuries.
“Despite disturbing it that day, it killed an in-calf cow the next day from a kraal in Tafirenyika Village. This is why people resorted to using kitchen huts, barns, or even spare bedrooms while others without such option had to sleep close to their cattle pens with bonfires to scare away the cat,” said Mr Mashoko.
Ward 24 councillor Faro Kuyerukani said the killing of the second lion by a professional hunter brought peace to Deve Point 4 area. Councillor Kuyerukani, who was distributing grain under drought relief programme at Deve Bussiness Centre last Wednesday, said before the second lion was killed it had become difficult for him to assemble villagers as people feared the dangerous cat. “We could not assemble as people were afraid of being attacked. The animals had really imposed a curfew on the villagers. Parents who stay far from the schools had since stopped their children from going to school. Business has returned to normal. People are now working on their tobacco without any fear. Today I just received a report that some animals that survived attacks in pens are now refusing to move back into the pens from the barns, huts etc where they had been temporarily sheltered,” said Councillor Kuyerukani.
After the lions had killed nine cattle and a donkey during their first two weeks in Hurungwe council organised a joint operation with National Parks and Wildlife Authority to kill the cats. The team of rangers managed to kill one of them as the other one escaped. The runaway lion continued to roam the area and later killed five cattle and two donkeys by the time it was shot down by a professional hunter around 9pm on March 24.
This brought the total number of cattle and donkeys lost to the cats to 14 and three respectively since the arrival of the lions in the area.
Hurungwe RDC CEO Joram Moyo said, “It is our mandate as council to ensure that problem animals are quickly dealt with each time they stray into communities. It is our responsibility to protect life and property from dangerous animals. People must enjoy their peace and freedom as usual.”
To some people, the straying of the lions into Deve Point 4 had opened them an opportunity to see a real lion for the first time.
A teacher at Deve Primary School said, “Tourism has come to our doorstep.
I have seen what could have demanded a bit of some fortune and time to visit Mana Pools or Hwange National Park.”
