Kasungu, Malawi

Wednesday, june 04, 2025

By Jack McBrams

“They came back last night.” The light of dawn over Malawi reveals a flattened cornfield. Broken stalks lie between footprints the size of dinner plates, those of elephants that have already killed twelve people since a restocking operation.

Rodwell Chalilima contemplates the damage to his crops. “We’ve counted almost 200 elephants. We couldn’t do anything but watch them from our houses. They’re unstoppable. We’re powerless,” laments the forty-year-old, his voice white.

The scene has been a frequent one in Chisinga since 263 elephants were relocated almost three years ago to Kasungu National Park, next to the village in this border area with Zambia.

Presented as a success by conservationists, the operation was as costly – several million dollars – as it was spectacular. The pachyderms, transported under tranquilizer from another of the country’s overpopulated parks, ended their journey with all four irons in the air, deposited by a crane.

The picture painted by local residents is very different. A group of them have taken legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

The plaintiffs are seeking millions of dollars in compensation from the UK-based NGO, which helped the government relocate the animals.

At least twelve people have lost their lives, claims British law firm Leigh Day, which is representing ten plaintiffs in Zambia and Malawi in a case being prepared for the UK courts.

Locals complain that the park lacks adequate fencing. This allows elephants to spill over into housing areas, where they destroy crops and enter buildings in search of food.

In the nearby village of Chifwamba, 35-year-old Kannock Phiri mourns the death of his wife, trampled by a herd in 2023 while picking vegetables. The youngest of their five children barely survived.

“Park officials brought a coffin and food for the funeral,” says the father. “Then they disappeared. No support. No compensation either.

– The “fantasy” of cohabitation –

The repopulation operation was “based on the idea that elephants and humans could cohabit in harmony”, criticizes Mike Labuschagne, working for a foundation supporting the affected families.

“It’s not true. It’s a fantasy designed for American, British and European donors who only know elephants from the movies, the circus or the zoo,” adds this former IFAW employee, until early 2022.

In their legal action, the plaintiffs will be seeking millions of dollars in compensation for the thousands of people affected, killed or injured.

Leigh Day said its clients were also seeking to compel IFAW to take measures such as the installation of adequate fencing.

The case could, however, be resolved out of court, said lawyer Rachel Bonner, her clients being “keen to avoid a lengthy legal process” in the face of this “urgent” situation.

– Not at the cost of our lives” –

IFAW acknowledged almost a year ago, when the case first hit the media, that elephant-inhabitant interaction since the operation had led to “the death of several individuals and caused trauma”.

However, the NGO “does not manage any national park and does not decide on the measures to be taken”, it insisted.

As far as the government is concerned, 84% of a 135-kilometer fence designed to contain the pachyderms has been completed, assures Joseph Nkosi, spokesman for the Ministry of Fauna and Flora.

Case-by-case assistance has also been offered, but he assures us that the government is not aware of any legal action underway.

The village of Mbuluunde, one of those on the front line against elephants, “has lost lives, homes, food”, describes its chief Kaston Nyirenda.

“My own aunt was killed. My children almost died when an elephant caused our house to collapse in the middle of the night,” says the 66-year-old. “We’re all for conservation. But not at the cost of our lives.”

Humaniterre with AFP