People living on the edge of a protected area in Malawi are taking legal action against an NGO that moved more than 250 elephants into the area, which they say have killed at least 10 people.
Villagers near Kasungu national park, which is Malawi’s second largest and crosses the Zambian border, say they are living in fear for their livelihoods and safety after 263 elephants were introduced in July 2022, causing a sharp spike in human-wildlife conflict. Ten people claiming to be affected by the translocation from Liwonde national park have begun legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), demanding that the conservation NGO construct adequate fencing to protect the 167 villages around the park and compensate local people for the damage caused by the elephants.
More than 50 children were orphaned between July 2022 and November 2024 as a result of the translocated elephants, according to local communities. Among the 10 people killed were John Kayedzeka, 31, who was trampled by a herd while working in a field in September 2022 and Masiye Phiri, 31, who died after she was charged by a bull elephant while in the garden with her two-year-old child a year later.
One farmer from Zambia said he was walking across his farm when he came across two elephants and a calf, which charged. “I couldn’t run away in time. They stepped on me and then broke off branches and covered me in them,” he said.
“I was in Lumezi hospital for four months while my wounds healed … Since that incident, my stomach is swollen on one side. I don’t know what is wrong. I can’t straighten my arm, so I can’t farm. I depend on the well wishes of others to survive,” the 53-year-old said. “I am very afraid to move around on my own, so I tend to stay at home alone. I am in pain all of the time.”
Two deaths do not directly involve elephants but have been blamed on the translocation: one person was killed by a hippo displaced by elephants and another by hyenas believed to be trailing the mammals out of the park. Local people say that elephants are also routinely raiding their crops and trampling fields, threatening their livelihoods.
The UK law firm Leigh Day has been instructed to act on behalf of the 10 people against Ifaw in the UK, Zambia and Malawi, potentially bringing the case to the high court in England. Claimants have not been named so far to protect their identities. While elephants have long been in the park, with populations falling due to poaching, local people said the spike in human-wildlife conflict started after the translocation.
“My farmland has been destroyed five times. Three times in April 2024. Twice in May 2024. I was growing maize, sugarcane, rice and beans. Everything was destroyed,” said one 73-year-old farmer. “Before the relocation, sometimes I could harvest 35 bags of rice. This year, I have nothing.”
Another farmer who lives on the Zambian side of the park, whose father-in-law was killed by the animals, is also part of the case.
“My father-in-law was old and he didn’t manage to run away and they trampled him, and he was killed. The news spread across the community and the community members went to help but he had already died,” she said.
In a statement, Ifaw said it had received notice of legal action in December and rejected allegations of wrongdoing.
“Ifaw is deeply saddened by all cases of human-wildlife conflict in and around Kasungu, where it has been working to support government and communities develop sustainable solutions for reducing human-wildlife conflict and promote coexistence,” a spokesperson said, highlighting that Malawi’s government had overall responsibility for its national parks. Ifaw provided technical and financial support, following international best practice while moving the elephants, they said.
The elephant translocation was among the largest of its kind and images of the operation were used for fundraising, with pictures of the mammals being lifted by crane described as “scenes reminiscent of the Disney classic Dumbo”. It was a three-way operation between Malawi’s national park service and two NGOs: Ifaw and African Parks.
Another claimant in the case said they hoped to live in peace with the elephants and wanted the NGO to take steps to protect them.
“We need the owners of the elephants to compensate us, they need to barrier the park, if they don’t barrier the park, they should find another way to protect us and our crops. We want to claim the damage and barrier the park. If it is like this next year how are we going to live? We can’t be removed from this place. These are our ancestral places, inherited. If we moved it would take a very long time to settle and start over,” they said.
“We can’t do anything as we are just human beings – we know the law, we can’t attack the elephants. We want to ensure there is protection. We are peace-loving people, we don’t want to have a war between us and the elephants. We just want peace.”
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