HARARE – Two suspected poachers were shot dead weekend following a shootout with game rangers in Makuti, police have said.
The incident happened on Saturday, according to a police statement on their official X handle Monday.
“The ZRP confirms the death of two poachers during a shootout with Zimparks rangers in Musingwizi Area, Makuti on 21 December 2024,” police wrote while promising to release further details about the incident.
Since the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) adopted a shoot-to-kill policy, at least 22 poaching suspects were reported to have been killed by game rangers since 2019.
In a June 2024 interview with the media, ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said the authority recorded 111 shoot-out with poachers since 2019.
“The highest was in 2019 when we had 56 armed conducts,” Farawo said then.
“From 2019, 22 poachers were shot dead.”
Farawo said at least 4,000 suspects were arrested during the same period.
“152 of these were foreigners,” he said.
Farawo said they also recovered 94 rifles and 669 rounds of ammunition from the poachers.
“The highest was in 2020 when we recovered about 23 rifles,” he said.
