A Griffith University researcher has shed light on the tragic and often overlooked human-wildlife conflicts surrounding a vast, picturesque lake that supports the livelihoods of villagers in a remote Zimbabwe region.
Dr Joshua Matanzima, from the Australian Rivers Institute based at Griffith, is a Zimbabwean researcher whose personal connection to the dangers of living by Lake Kariba offered insights into the risks – his late brother's wife was taken by a crocodile while fishing in the lake, which is an all-too-common occurrence in the region.
Lake Kariba, a man-made reservoir built in 1957, is a striking landscape near Victoria Falls, known for its breath-taking views and quintessential African wildlife - including elephants, buffaloes, lions, birds, hippos, and crocodiles – that depend on its bountiful fish stock.
However, beneath the surface of this picturesque setting lies a grim reality. The lake, once home to nearly 60,000 people before it was dammed, has become a sacred and dangerous space where humans and wildlife compete for food and territory. This competition result in conflict, a theme that Joshua uncovered in depth in his recent book.
In Zimbabwe, villagers rely on the lake for food and livelihoods, often venturing into crocodile and hippo territory with little awareness of the dangers.
Unlike in Australia, where clear signage warns against the risks of crocodile-infested waters in the northern states and territories, Lake Kariba lacks proper safety measures or reliable recorded data on the deaths and injuries that occur each year. His research discovers that often incidents involving minor injuries go unreported. Lack of data prevents the proper and effective management of the conflicts.
"Several fishing communities are in the immediate vicinity of the Lake, but people from communities far from the Lake, such as Kariba town, visit the Lake on a daily basis for their livelihoods. exposing themselves to attacks from crocodiles and hippos," Dr Matanzima said.
"Human attacks by hippos and crocodiles are perpetuated by inadequate awareness campaigns, and economic hardship that drives people to encroach on the lake, even when it is dangerous."
Dr Joshua Matanzima
Climate change has only intensified the struggle. As food sources for wildlife become scarce, people and animals are drawn into even closer, more dangerous proximity. Men in canoes and women fishing on the banks are routinely at risk of deadly encounters.
Dr Matanzima's latest release The Materiality of Lake Kariba: Water, Livelihoods, Belonging and Conservation calls on the Zimbabwean government to take action, urging them to fund awareness campaigns about the lake's dangers and to support alternative income streams for the villagers, who face over 90% unemployment.
His work aims to bring international attention to this tragic situation, where life by the lake is a daily fight for survival.
"The villages are calling for the culling of crocodiles and hippos to reduce their number from the lake," Dr Matanzima said.
"One villager said: 'We now have too many crocodiles in the lake and there is no culling that is going on. National Parks stopped culling a long time ago'.
"The villagers also want the problem crocodiles to be shot immediately after an incident so that they do not keep attacking humans.
"However, some villagers bemoan that when an incident occurs – National Parks takes time to arrive at the scene and also they do not kill crocodiles involved in conflicts. As one fisherman noted: 'they shoot in the sky'.
"There is a need to listen to communities and incorporate their suggestions into conservation policies and the management of human-wildlife conflict in this region.
"This will minimise human-to-human conflicts over wildlife that are also a wicked problem at Kariba that often exacerbates these animal attacks on humans.
"Culling of crocodiles and hippos is required in instances where communities feel like the creatures' numbers are increasing."
