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.