Elephant put down after attacking Zambezi teacher

The environment ministry has put down an elephant that attacked a teacher at Chefuzwe on the outskirts of Katima Mulilo on Tuesday.

Florence Mutete (58) and her grandchild were allegedly on their way to a hiking point at around 06h30 when they encountered the elephant.

They allegedly immediately started running away, but the elephant charged at them.

Mutete then allegedly pushed her grandchild into palm trees for safety and tried to hide as well.

Unfortunately, the elephant had already stepped on her.

Mutete sustained minor hip injuries and is currently receiving treatment at Katima Mulilo District Hospital.

Ministry of Environment and Tourism chief warden Calvin Matomola says when officials arrived at the scene, they tried to chase the elephant away from the residential area.

However, the solitary sub-adult male elephant kept charging at officials and residents present.

“Therefore, there was no option but to put it down to save the lives of locals.

“It was found on the residents’ daily commuting route. We recovered the elephant’s tusks and the meat was distributed to the needy community within the area.

“We will also process a human-wildlife conflict claim for the victim, ” he says.

Matomola says residents must be on high alert as the presence of wildlife would be high as a result of high rainfall that has blocked the wildlife corridor.

“Therefore, expect frequent movement of wildlife species to continue throughout the season,” he says.

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