“Buffaloes come as a herd. After most of them leave, a few lone stragglers become scared and turn aggressive,” said farmer Nitwa Ndayambaje, 40, who has been growing potatoes for almost two decades.
“The buffaloes killed someone just two months ago,” said Mr Maniriho. He added that the animals are so strong that humans are helpless when faced with the beasts. Hence, the villagers scream, shout and beat drums to alert others of the animals’ presence. While this will address the issue of wildlife destroying crops, some 3,000 families and farmers living near the park border will have to move.
The pair work as porters, transporting bricks up the volcanoes to be used in building various structures. Mountain gorillas were critically endangered in the 1980s because of poaching and agricultural expansion. However, conservation efforts have boosted their population. Their numbers have grown fourfold to about 1,000 today.