Lions, elephants, hyenas These children have the most dangerous journey to school in the world

Many boys and girls in this country in southern Africa face dangerous encounters with wild animals. Now they are learning how to recognize threats.

For 14-year-old Esther Bote, the day begins at dawn with a fixed routine. She cleans the house, lights the fire, cooks, bathes and puts on her gray and white school uniform. Then it's time for the most dangerous part: from her home on the edge of a nature reserve in south-eastern Zimbabwe, the teenager has to walk five kilometers to school - through bushes and forests where dangerous animals can lurk.

Like Esther, many children, some of them just five years old, walk quickly through dense forests to and from school, some of them holding the hands of only slightly older siblings or friends. "Sometimes we see the footprints of animals," says the 14-year-old. "We see their footprints and realize that the elephants are still around."

Humans and animals compete for resources

In the humid, densely forested area, repeated droughts caused by the natural weather phenomenon "El Niño" and man-made climate change have led to food and water shortages. Humans and animals are competing for resources.

Wild animals are moving dangerously close to human settlements. Children must learn to live in this new reality without exposing themselves to too great a risk. This is why the subject of animal behavior is now on the school curriculum.

When Esther and her friends recently discovered elephant footprints on their way home from school, they reported them to a ranger. The animals had crossed a field and a bush path on the boys' and girls' way home from school. A few days earlier, a child had been seriously injured in an attack by a crocodile.

"We walk in groups"

Although no fatal attacks have been reported so far, Esther and her friends remain cautious. "We usually walk in groups to feel safer," says the 14-year-old.

The program to educate schoolchildren about the dangers was launched last year by the private Save Valley Conservancy and the Zimbabwe Parks Authority. Dozens of pupils like Esther can now distinguish animal tracks and sounds, determine wind direction and know how and when to get to safety.

"Children are the most affected. They are the ones who go to school, who fetch water and firewood," explains Dingani Masuku, who is responsible for contact with the communities at the Save Valley Conservancy. "That's why we are targeting schools, so that the children can know how animals behave and what they should do with the animals." The aim is to teach pupils "not to see the animal as an enemy, but as a benefit to the community, as something that should be respected".

Up to 15 kilometers to school

On a recent sunny day, more than two dozen children from the Chiyambiro school take part in the outdoor lessons. An 18-year-old ranger informs them about animal behavior and how to protect themselves.

"Don't approach an animal. If it's a lion, it's looking for food," she explains. "That's why it's in the village. It's looking for easy prey, and that could be you." Some of the children have to walk up to 15 kilometers to school, they say. They have to set off before sunrise - at a time when predators such as hyenas are still on the prowl.

"Parents have stopped sending their children to school"

A representative of the national park authority explains to the children the benefits of wild animals for the communities, for example with regard to tourism. He also refers to the creation of jobs for locals, for example as rangers. The lecturer encourages the pupils to pass on this message at home - because many parents see wild animals either as enemies or as a source of food.

At the same time, the fathers and mothers hope that the initiative will contribute to greater safety for their children, as Alphonce Chimangaisu from the Chiyambiro School Development Committee explains. "Some parents have stopped sending their children to school because they don't know what could happen," he says. Some have been swayed by the new program. The park authority is now considering expanding the initiative to similar areas across the country.

For Esther, the training hasn't eliminated the dangers, but she now feels better prepared, as she says: "It's helpful that we now know a lot of things about animals that we didn't know before."

dpa