Human–Wildlife Conflict: Baboons Cause Havoc in Hwange Town

Baboons play on rooftops and access homes through unlocked doors and windows in Hwange. Image by Unsplash

In Hwange, baboons are giving local residents sleepless nights. Like burglars, troops of baboons break windows and roof sheets breaking into people’s homes stealing food.
 
BY CALVIN MANIKA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | APR 13, 2023

HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — Oscar Banda (28) recalls the day when he returned from work to find his room turned up-side down, and his food stocks stolen.
 
Banda had forgotten to close the window.
 
“I was astonished. At first, I thought burglars had broken into my house,” Banda says.
 
“But the way the room was messed up, I knew baboons had ransacked my room. The baboon population is a threat here. We need long-term strategies to fight back.”
 
In Hwange, baboons play on rooftops and access homes through unlocked doors and windows.

When traveling through Hwange town and its suburbs, one cannot miss the sight of troops of menacing baboons. According to locals, the baboons are turning more brazen each passing year, and are aggressive towards women and young children.

“Baboons may be very cruel. They have a propensity to bully women and can even tell the difference between a skirt and a pair of pants,” says Margaret Tshuma, a resident of Empumalanga.
 
Hwange residents have resorted to using metal sheets instead of asbestos for roofing as the latter easily gets destroyed when baboons play on rooftops.
 
Residents want long-term solutions to the baboon threat saying they are fed up.
 
“There is nothing one can do if there is a troop of baboons because they will be threatening. This is a very serious issue,” says a resident from Chibondo suburb, Ruvheneneko Mwale.
 
Residents have employed a variety of methods to combat the primates but it is still a daily struggle from sunrise to sunset.
 
Traditional methods to deter baboons have lost effectiveness as they have quickly adapted, according to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks).
 
The wild animals are said to be driven from their habitat into communities by drought-induced climate change in search of food and water.
 
Matabeleland North regional manager of Zimparks, Samson Chibaya, says they are employing a number of strategies to deal with the baboon threat.
 
“To stop the threat, we have integrated local councils and other stakeholders in our efforts,” Chibaya says.
 
However, Chibaya admits it’s a mammoth task.

“It is difficult since baboons in these regions have honed their ability to avoid raids and traps. Nonetheless, we are taking care of the problem.”
Samson Chibaya, Zimparks regional manager

In settlements near national parks, wildlife conflicts, particularly those involving elephants, lions, hyenas, buffaloes, crocodiles, baboons, and wild dogs are common.
 
Villagers have lost cattle, crops, and in some cases, people have been killed by wild animals.
 
According to conservationists, human-wildlife conflicts in Zimbabwe are increasing as a result of rising human population.
 
Wildlife researcher, Milton Pondo, says these conflicts hurt villagers who depend on subsistence farming and cattle keeping.

Baboons invade crops threatening food security to villagers who largely depend on subsistence farming. Image by iStock

“Because animals are permitted to roam freely, crops are destroyed and cattle are killed as a result of human-wildlife conflicts,” Pondo says.
 
“Conflicts over access to resources and the need to survive also exist between the local populations and the wildlife.”

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the conflicts occur when the requirements of either human populations or wildlife intrude onto one another.

“Thus, this leads to resentment, hatred of the animal, and frequently the emergence of human warring factions: those supporting suffering local residents and those supporting wildlife protection,” FAO says.
 
FAO says the conflicts have always existed but have grown more intense as a result of population growth and the expansion of wildlife populations.
 
“A new dimension of conflict may emerge as a result of the level of enmity between people who value biodiversity and those who value humanism,” FAO adds.

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According to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), these conflicts have a negative effect on human social, economic, or cultural livelihoods as well as the environment and the conservation of wildlife populations.
 
A local resident Patrick Munetsi says the baboon threat is causing panic among residents.
 
“If you look, baboons came from the national park and found refuge in human settlements, where they started breeding in close proximity to bushes before invading humans and reproducing,” Munetsi says.

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