The report said that three quarters of the central part of the 43,000-hectare park "has been engulfed by a raging veldt fire, which displaced hundreds of wild animals."

The Matobo Hills, from which the park gets its name, were this year declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The radio described the fire as "an act of arson" probably caused by poachers or by reckless villagers.

Hunters here sometimes set fire to the bush in order to flush out wild animals, while subsistance farmers start fires to clear bush for crops.

The park, which is located some 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of the country's second city of Bulawayo, is the site of ancient rock paintings made by the area's first inhabitants.

It is also home to many animal species, including the increasingly rare leopard.

TERRA.WIRE