The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Reporter
IT is either you innovate to keep your small livestock safe or lose out to the marauding hyenas in Buhera.
Over the years, hyenas have been a menace to the drought stricken district and many villagers have lost their livestock to the nocturnal animals, prompting the legislator for Buhera South, Cde Joseph Chinotimba, to table the issue in the August House.
During the official commissioning of Marovanyati Dam last year, President Mnangagwa also acknowledged the plight of Buhera villagers who are now being forced to design new shelter for their livestock to keep the hyenas at bay.
The hyenas have caused havoc in the district for years, killing livestock and people in some cases.
The cunning predator, which usually targets goats and small calves, has made the district its home for decades and can sometimes wipe out an entire herd in a short space of time.
To protect their livestock from the nocturnal animals, many villagers in the district now build their goat pens on tree tops.
The pen is fitted with a ladder for easy access of the goats as well as the people who open and close it.
This way, the goats are safe from the hyenas.
Mrs Teurai Usavi from Ruwangi Village in Buhera West said villagers had to adapt to living with the hyenas and come up with ways to protect their livestock.
“We just had to come up with a way to make sure that our livestock is safe. We had lost almost everything to these hyenas and we had to build the pens on tree tops so that they wouldn’t attack our livestock.
“In this area, it is very rare to find a homestead with its goat pen on the ground. That is a recipe for disaster as all the goats will be devoured by the hyenas. There are just too many of them here,” she said.
She said the hyenas have of late been attacking people.
“A few years back, a man was walking home from his field carrying a bag of seed maize when he was attacked. Only his head and a few other remains were recovered. The hyenas really terrorise us,”said Mrs Usavi.
In 2018, a six-year-old boy who was playing outside with 10 other children was attacked and killed near his parents’ homestead.
In 2013, five people were attacked. These included a 10-year-old girl who lost her eye during the attack.
This pushed villagers to team up with the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management to trap the animals and kill them.
But despite all these efforts, the animals continue to pounce.
“After they were trapped and taken away, we didn’t see the hyenas for almost a year. But they came back and started killing our goats again. We cannot get rid of these animals. They have always been giving us sleepless night,” said another villager, Mr Pearson Basira.
He said although people are safe in their houses, their animals risk being attacked in their pens and kraals during the night, hence the innovative pens.
Mr James Garira said since the hyenas cannot climb the ladders to reach the goats, the structure is now a permanent way of keeping their goats safe.
“These hyenas are very clever. They will hit the brick wall of a pen until it falls and then attack. A local family recently lost all their goats to the hyenas after they destroyed the pen’s wall. Sometimes they lead the whole herd away from the settlements and then kill them there,” he said.
Unfortunately it is a different story when the animals are out in the pastures, especially during the winter season when they are allowed to roam freely looking for food.
During such periods, the hyenas can attack the bigger animals as they hunt in packs and help each other to take down the prey.
Livestock is an important source of livelihood for many families in Buhera since crops do not thrive in the drought prone region.
Goats are drought resistant and thrives in such areas.
“Goats are our livelihood as we have very few cattle left after the drought and January Disease (Theileriosis) killed many beasts during the past few years. We have to protect the goats,” said Mr Garira.
