MANY villagers in Matabeleland North Province are now forced to guard their crops throughout the night to ward off warthogs that are invading their fields.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Umguza District Administrator Mrs Gloria Round, said her district was one of the affected areas.

“We received a formal report that elephants were becoming a menace but it later proved to be a false alarm. However, warthogs are terrorising the villagers and some people have lost most of their crops. This is becoming an annual phenomenon at this time of the year,” said Mrs Round.

Matabeleland North provincial chief Agritex officer Mr Dumisani Nyoni said most farmers were harvesting their crops before they reached maturity stage as a result of elephant and warthog menace.