Zambia community secure after elephants return to national park

(Lilongwe, Malawi – 19 January 2024) — Wildlife authorities successfully herded more than fifty elephants back to Kasungu National Park (KNP) in Malawi this week after they entered Lumezi community in neighbouring Zambia. While no people were physically injured in the conflict, the elephants caused considerable crop damage. 

“Human-elephant conflict is a significant concern for communities and a major challenge for the large-scale conservation of elephants across Africa,” said Patricio Ndadzela, IFAW Director for Malawi and Zambia. “Coexistence is perhaps the defining issue facing elephant conservation at the moment, and this week’s events provide a real-life example of the realities we are trying to mitigate."

Eight elephants previously fitted with tracking collars made it possible for wildlife rangers to locate the herds and respond to the situation swiftly. The elephants are among more than 250 elephants translocated to KNP in mid-2022 by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) Malawi with financial support from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and African Parks. This was part of a large-scale wildlife relocation to revitalise Malawi's second-largest national park. 

KNP is part of the Malawi-Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), an agreement between the two Governments to allow for the free movement of wildlife, including elephants. Led by DNPW Malawi and with the support of local communities, IFAW has fenced an extended section of KNP’s perimeter in Malawi, but the border with Zambia remains unfenced as part of the connectivity ensured by the international TFCA agreement. 

KNP is managed by the DNPW Malawi and supported by IFAW. IFAW also supports DNPW Zambia in providing infrastructure to improve ranger welfare and help the community with alternative livelihoods. DNPW rangers from the Chikomeni Ranger Base were deployed to herd the elephants back to Kasungu. 

“IFAW is committed to learning and adapting as we minimise incidents such as this for the future. We continue to work with local authorities on ensuring the health and safety of both people and animals is a priority,” added Ndadzela. 

IFAW support in response to human-elephant conflict in Malawi-Zambia TFCA and beyond is growing to include: 

• Identifying hotspots and developing community action plans 
• Education and sensitisation within communities to help keep them safe in daily life 
• Recruitment and training of Primary Response Units  
• Recruitment and training of community scouts who can act as guardians for coexistence 
• Supply of rapid-response equipment such as motorcycles 

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Press Contacts: 

Luckmore Safuli  
Communications Officer, Southern Africa 
m: +263 77 252 7736 
e: lsafuli@ifaw.org  

Christina Pretorius 
Director, Communications Africa 
m: +27 82 330 2558 
e: cpretorius@ifaw.org