Villagers sue after moved elephants claim lives
Locals allege that the lack of adequate fencing around the park allows the animals to enter human settlements
Locals allege that the lack of adequate fencing around the park allows the animals to enter human settlements
KASUNGU, Malawi (AFP) — As dawn breaks over Malawi, Rodwell Chalilima gazes at his flattened maize field, the rising sun casting long shadows over the chaos left behind.
Torn stalks lie broken like matchsticks. Elephant footprints, as wide as dinner plates, pock the soil.
“They came in the night again,” said Chalilima, a 45-year-old father of six, his voice barely above a whisper and thick with grief and anger.
“We counted nearly 200 elephants. We just watched from our homes. We can’t stop them. We’re powerless,” he told Agence France-Presse at Chisinga village outside the Kasungu National Park.
The trouble started around three years ago when 263 elephants were transferred to the park on the border with Zambia from an overpopulated Malawi reserve in a multi-million-dollar collaboration between the government and wildlife non-government organizations.
Conservationists hailed the translocation a success but for locals on both sides of the border it has been a nightmare.
Some have joined legal action against the United Kingdom-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, which helped the government move the animals, seeking millions of dollars in compensation.
At least 12 people have lost their lives, said British law firm Leigh Day representing 10 claimants in Zambia and Malawi in a case being prepared for UK courts.
Locals allege that the lack of adequate fencing around the park allows the animals to enter human settlements where they destroy crops and break into buildings in search of food.
In nearby Chifwamba village, 35-year-old Kannock Phiri mourns his wife, who was trampled to death by elephants in 2023 while collecting vegetables.
