Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Rural Farmers Chase Out by Wide Animals, As Chimpanzees Invade Nimba, Elephants Take on Lofa



As rural dwellers in Liberia are seeking their livelihood through farming, wide animals including chimpanzees and elephants are said to be invading their farm lands, at some point taken away children.

Residents in Nimba County, specifically farmers who are constantly being victimized are calling on the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to quickly move into their area to safe them from these dangerous animals.

The residents said chimpanzees on a daily basis attack them on their farms, making them to leave their farm abandoned, “we are in fear, because these animals are dangerous. One of them just last week killed a lady, Ma Zorley and her eight (8) months baby,” one of the ladies who was also beaten by one the chimpanzees in tears told our reporter at the Ganta Methodist Hospital.

As chimpanzees in Nimba continue to terrorize residents, another report emanating from Lofa County say elephants have allegedly invaded farms in that part of the country thus making local farmers to flee their farms for safely.

According to report from that northern part of the country, the situation is grave, saying if nothing is done by the Central Government to bring this to an end, farmers in these counties like Nimba and Lofa counties might experience severe hunger in the coming months.

Report say towns like Slaegar and Maleima are those major towns targeted by these wide animals; destroying farm crops and wounding farmers who persist to remain on their farms. As a result farmers in the area are said they can no longer go to their farms due the presence of these wide animals.

Speaking separately vie mobile phone to the GNN, both Superintendents of Nimba and Lofa Counties confirmed the information and said they were making an urgent “SOS” to the Central Government on the issue.