Vic Falls hosts eco-musical event for wildlife

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls

ENVIRONMENTALISTS in conjunction with tour operators and hotels in Victoria Falls are organising a musical show to raise $50 000 which will be used towards fighting human-wildlife conflict. The first ever eco-musical event dubbed Elefenst2016 has been slated for December 17 at Riverside – on the edges of the Zambezi River.

Artistes from the resort town – Evicted, Mackay, Flying Bantu, Army and the Calamities, Kweseka Band, So Kindly and Bud Cockcroft & friends are billed to perform with more national artistes set to be unveiled.

Show organiser Guy Cockcroft said they wanted to raise funds to erect a solar electric fence around a dumpsite near Masue River. The project also includes setting up a string of beehives between Mkhosana suburb and the Chamabondo National Park and Zambezi National Park (elephants are afraid of bees) to prevent elephants from straying into human settlements as well as erecting another electric fence around the Big Tree where elephants have killed people before.

“The initial target is $50 000 but even if we reach this, plans are underway to make the fundraising an ongoing annual event,” Cockroft said.

“We hope to erect a fence around the dumpsite after realising that every night, there’re elephants and other species scavenging for food which end up eating plastics. An elephant eats about 2 000kgs of grass daily and that includes plastics and researchers from Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust have been finding dead animals with plastic in their abdomen.”

Elefenst2016 will be a family fun day as people are encouraged to come out to support the cause.

“We’re appealing for corporate sponsorship in cash or kind,” said Cockroft.

Organisations involved in the fundraising include Victoria Falls Green Fund, Environment Africa, Shearwater, Wilderness Safaris, Victoria Falls Hotel and Beauty Guest Lodge. Tickets for the show are already on sale with the cheapest being $10. VIP tickets are being sold for $60.

@ncubeleon.

Source: Vic Falls hosts eco-musical event for wildlife (14/11/16)