By Jessica Mwansa
FEIRA Member of Parliament Emmanuel Tembo says hippos, elephants, and crocodiles are roaming free in the area thereby endangering human life as nothing is done to crop them.
Mr. Tembo says recently, a 23-year-old woman was attacked and killed by a crocodile in his constituency as the beasts have continued multiplying and roaming everywhere, thereby putting the lives of the people in danger.
Speaking in an interview with The Scoop today, Mr Tembo says the only solution to keep the elephants away from the farmers’ fields and from attacking people is to fence the area.
“The human-animal conflict has continued to escalate due to lack of a long-lasting solution to arrest the situation. I want to embark on a project to engage farmers in planting chilli which I believe will chase the elephants away.
“I have written a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture because our food production was low due to the same problem. So I want to involve the ministry to help sensitise farmers on growing chilli to control elephants,” Mr. Tembo said.
He added that crocodiles and hippos have also invaded the area thereby threatening the lives of the people of Fiera Constituency.
“At the moment we have too many crocodiles and hippos whose population has continued to grow and they have begun feeding on people. They have nothing to feed on and because we are not eating them, they are now eating us,” he said.
