CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Rural farming communities on the border between the southern African countries of Malawi and Zambia are seeking damages and threatening to sue an international animal conservation group over the relocation of more than 260 elephants to their area, which their lawyers say have killed at least 12 people and injured others, destroyed crops and property, and left thousands living in fear. British law firm Leigh Day said it is representing 10 people living near the Kasungu National Park on the Malawi-Zambia border, who say their lives have been ruined by the arrival of the elephants in 2022. The elephants were meant to be contained in the park, but the rarely respect man-made borders and have broken through fences to raid nearby small-scale farming communities in both countries for food and water, causing death and damage, according to the lawyers.
A local non-profit organisation recorded more than 11,000 people who had suffered crop or property damage, personal injury or the death of a family member due to elephants and estimated the damage was millions of dollars, the lawyers said. Some of the community members were struggling to feed their families as a result of their livelihoods being destroyed, the lawyers said. “They say the action placed the wellbeing of the elephants above that of local communities,” Leigh Day said.
Leigh Day said the communities want the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a renowned United States-based conservatio.