BY MOSES MATENGA THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has attributed the surge in human-wildlife conflicts to overpopulation and encroachment of human settlements into conservancies. ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said this yesterday as he confirmed the death of a 68-year-old man who was gored by a hippopotamus while fishing in Runde River on Saturday. “It is with great sadness that a 68-year-old man from Chief Masunda area was killed by a hippo while fishing in Mabasa Weir along Runde River on February 13, 2021. ZimParks officials are on the ground attending to the problem,” Farawo said. Last week, ZimParks also announced that a 30-year-old woman from Jeketera village under Chief Mola in Nyaminyami and an 81-year-old man from Zaka were killed by wild animals. On February 7, ZimParks also confirmed the death of a four-year-old girl, who was killed by a crocodile in Kariba, while her 10-year-old sister escaped with serious injuries. Farawo told NewsDay that the human-wildlife conflicts had increased. “It is another life which has been lost and we have lost so many lives because of human-to-wildlife conflicts. It is mainly because our animals are overpopulated and because of those numbers, they now move into communities and cause a lot of problems by killing people, and destroying crops. “People must desist from scaring away animals because you can’t fight an animal, the animals will fight back.” Follow Moses on Twitter @mmatenga