Three herds of elephants from the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania have invaded several villages near the park, killing one person and destroying tens of thousands of farm crops, authorities said.
Maftah Ally, the Serengeti district commissioner, said the elephants killed a villager on Friday night when he was guarding his maize farm.
“Three herds of elephants invaded several villages located near the national park and destroyed crops, including maize,” said Ally,
The official said that the incident brought to 20 numbers of people killed by elephants between 2009 and June 2016, while 6,700 hectares of crops have been destroyed by the marauding animals.
He added that game rangers from the park were working hard to control the elephants from inflicting more damage.
The district official said that about 150 elephants have since Thursday invaded Kenokwe village, situated 30 kilometres from the national park.
He said villagers spent the whole night trying to control the elephants but to no avail.
Chembo Manyanya, a councillor for Nyamatare ward, said 100 elephants also stayed in Kemugesi village for two consecutive days bringing business in the village to a standstill.
“People could not graze their livestock. They could also not go to their farms fearing the marauding jumbos. Most of them stayed indoors,” said Manyanya.
John Lendoyan, the Serengeti District Wildlife Officer, said the game rangers could not control the marauding animals due to lack of facilities, including patrol vehicles. (Xinhua/NAN)