News / National
Killer crocodile shot dead
16 Aug 2018 at 01:07hrs | Views
THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on Tuesday shot dead a crocodile that had become a threat to human life in Redcliff.
The crocodile attacked and killed a 14-year old boy who was swimming in Kwekwe River in the company of three of his friends on Sunday.
Ali Phiri's body was retrieved from the crocodile's mouth with missing body parts following the attack while his three friends escaped with minor injuries.
After the crocodile was shot, rangers slit it open to retrieve body parts for burial.
Ali, a Form One pupil, was buried at Torwood cemetery on Tuesday.
Parks and Wildlife spokesperson, Mr Tinashe Farawo, said the crocodile had to be put down as it had become a danger to people's lives.
"Our rangers managed to kill the crocodile as it had become a threat to human life in the area. It was now classified under the problem animals hence we assigned our Bulawayo office to take care of the problematic croc," he said.
Mr Farawo said it was unfortunate that a life was lost and warned people to stay away from water bodies.
"We are saddened by the loss of life. We are however, working on a schedule to educate people to stay away from water bodies," he said.
Mr Farawo said the above normal rains received in the last rainy season had resulted in many water bodies being infested with reptiles.
"So our main message is that we urge the public to stay away from water bodies as most of them are infested by crocodiles due to heavy rains received in the previous rainy season," he said.
Mr Farawo said his office had intensified outreach programmes meant to educate the public on the dangers of playing around water bodies.
Meanwhile, Mr Farawo tweeted that last year, 21 people were killed by crocodiles.
"Of the 34, 21 people were mauled by crocodiles, two by lions and those cases were recorded in Chiredzi. There were also cases of people gored by buffaloes to death while some were trampled by elephants," he said.
Mr Farawo said they received 393 human-wildlife conflicts reports throughout the country.
"Of the 393 reports, we managed to attend to 300 cases and we had to put down about 88 animals – these include elephants and lions. We classify this as problem animal control," he said.
The crocodile attacked and killed a 14-year old boy who was swimming in Kwekwe River in the company of three of his friends on Sunday.
Ali Phiri's body was retrieved from the crocodile's mouth with missing body parts following the attack while his three friends escaped with minor injuries.
After the crocodile was shot, rangers slit it open to retrieve body parts for burial.
Ali, a Form One pupil, was buried at Torwood cemetery on Tuesday.
Parks and Wildlife spokesperson, Mr Tinashe Farawo, said the crocodile had to be put down as it had become a danger to people's lives.
"Our rangers managed to kill the crocodile as it had become a threat to human life in the area. It was now classified under the problem animals hence we assigned our Bulawayo office to take care of the problematic croc," he said.
Mr Farawo said it was unfortunate that a life was lost and warned people to stay away from water bodies.
Mr Farawo said the above normal rains received in the last rainy season had resulted in many water bodies being infested with reptiles.
"So our main message is that we urge the public to stay away from water bodies as most of them are infested by crocodiles due to heavy rains received in the previous rainy season," he said.
Mr Farawo said his office had intensified outreach programmes meant to educate the public on the dangers of playing around water bodies.
Meanwhile, Mr Farawo tweeted that last year, 21 people were killed by crocodiles.
"Of the 34, 21 people were mauled by crocodiles, two by lions and those cases were recorded in Chiredzi. There were also cases of people gored by buffaloes to death while some were trampled by elephants," he said.
Mr Farawo said they received 393 human-wildlife conflicts reports throughout the country.
"Of the 393 reports, we managed to attend to 300 cases and we had to put down about 88 animals – these include elephants and lions. We classify this as problem animal control," he said.
Source - chronicle
