Orphans of Matobo: Comparing BaKalanga Displacement From and Animals Displacement to Chipangali Animal Orphanage

Abstract

In 1926, the colonial Rhodesian state created Matobo National Park on whose shoulders Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage was established in 1974. That was followed by displacements of BaKalanga communities. By comparing livelihoods of marginalized human and animal orphans, this article provides new lens for analyzing the displacement discourse. It captures BaKalanga struggles against exclusion as orphanhood. Through ethnographically gathered narratives and animal orphan observations, it contributes to scholarship by investigating longitudinal impacts of displacement on human and animal orphan livelihoods, thereby offering a more than human displacement history. “Orphans of Matobo” captures BaKalanga characterization of their livelihoods outside ancestral land.