<p>Protected areas (PAs) are subjected to threats that make biodiversity conservation programs fragile if not understood and addressed properly. This study identified type, scope, severity, timing, and frequency of direct threats affecting eight PAs (i.e., Nyanga, Chimanimani, Vumba, Bunga, Haroni, Rusitu, Osborne, and Eland Sanctuary) located in Eastern Highlands region of Zimbabwe. Data on local direct threats from published and unpublished literature, questionnaires, and field surveys were assembled. Forty participants from eight PAs were interviewed and asked to rank existing threats in their respective PAs. Threats were coded using the IUCN-Conservation Measures Partnership Unified Classification of direct threats. Common threats recorded across all eight PAs were fires, siltation, hunting and collecting terrestrial animals/plants, trespassing, flooding and shallow landslides, invasive plant species, droughts, and habitat shifting and alteration. There were significant differences in the scope and number of threats between Vumba and Nyanga (<i>p</i> = 0.001), Osborne and Rusitu (<i>p</i> = 0.025), Vumba and Osborne (<i>p</i> = 0.0002), Vumba and Haroni (<i>p</i> = 0.010), Chimanimani and Vumba (<i>p</i> = 0.018), Vumba and Eland Sanctuary (<i>p</i> = 0.010), and Rusitu and Vumba (<i>p</i> = 0.025) at <i>p-critical</i> = <i>0.05</i>. Participants’ views on threat severity showed no significant difference across the landscape (<i>p</i> = 0.835). PA managers should prioritize reducing direct threats of very high scopes and severity before losing biodiversity integrity.</p>