Durban - The Nhlungwane, Enqulwane and Okhukho communities of Ulundi are up in arms after more escapes of wildlife from the nearby Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in the north of KwaZulu-Natal.
Residents say they live in constant fear as lions, rhinos, buffalo and jackals continuously escape the enclosed habitat and terrorise the community and livestock due to the porous nature of the boundary fence at the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife park.
In July, six lions that escaped from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park were found and killed by wildlife rangers after they attacked cattle, killing at least six animals belonging to community members.
The most recent escapees were two rhinos and two lions last Tuesday and on Friday respectively which led to protests by community members. As a result, the Cengeni gate at the park was temporarily closed.
Ezemvelo said they re-captured one rhino on Thursday. “The second rhino that had been shot at by one community member, in its confused state, and due to its short sightedness ran towards a nearby homestead where it stamped on a 45-year-old woman. It also caused damage to the fence of nearby homes.
“Zandile Mbhele is still in hospital due to inflammation in her legs. She has no broken bones,” said Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo.
One of the lions was killed by community members after it killed four cows, while Mntambo said the second lion had not yet been captured.
“We received a report that one lion was seen this morning (Sunday) eating cows which were knocked down by a coal train.”
Community member and activist Smilo Khanyile said the residents were being placed under “house arrest” by wild animals.
“No one can leave their home freely at any time, no one goes anywhere after dark or in the early hours,” he said.
Khanyile said the fence of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park was rotted and old and instead of it being patched up, the whole fence needed to be replaced.
He disputed that two lions had escaped and said it was four. Khanyile added that there were other animals, such as wild pigs, that terrorised the community.
Mntambo said compensation depended on which animals killed the livestock.
“If the livestock was killed by wildlife which was introduced to the park, such as lions, we pay. If, however, it was killed by animals not introduced, such as leopard, we do not pay,” he said.
During the protests, Ezemvelo said there were also items stolen from staff accommodation that included vital equipment in the fight against rhino poaching as well as cellphones and food.
He said the guardhouse was burnt and solar panels were damaged. Mntambo said nothing had been recovered yet and a case was opened with the police.
In a statement on Saturday, Ezemvelo said that in a recent meeting held with former Environmental Affairs MEC Ravi Pillay the park was given two months to repair the damaged fence and it was agreed that local people should be employed to repair it.
“There are 115 people from the local communities who have been employed to repair the fence, and be fence liners, out of which some were employed before the MEC met with the community.”
Ezemvelo’s acting CEO, Ntsikelelo Dlulane, in the statement, expressed his frustrations regarding the latest animals’ escape. He also appealed to the community members to avoid embarking on protests.
“We request people that have issues with Ezemvelo to engage with us instead of protesting. I have ensured that most of the resolutions adopted during the community meeting attended by the former MEC are implemented. The areas where we have not started repairing the fence are remote areas that are not easily accessible by vehicles delivering the material.
“We have a plan to attend to these areas and we appeal to the community to afford us some time. I also hope that those who took items belonging to our field rangers will return them to us.”
DA KZN Spokesperson on Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Heinz de Boer, said Ezemvelo had allowed their fences to deteriorate along the western boundary for the past five to 10 years, however apart from that there were poaching activities that contributed to the breakdown of the fence.
He said there was about 20km of fence that was compromised.
“This poses a direct danger to the community. It is problematic when we have residents who live in fear, and through them trying to defend themselves, critically endangered animals are being killed,” he said.