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A big crocodile that had caused havoc in Burma Valley was caught in Mazonwe River last week by Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority officials.Burma Valley is a low-lying farming area on the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The four-metre-long reptile was identified as a Nile (African) crocodile, part of the crocodylus niloticus species.
Nile crocodiles are the second largest extant reptiles in the world after saltwater crocodiles and known to be super predators.
The crocodile is suspected to have attacked and killed 10 people in the area who are reported missing.
When it was eventually caught, the reptile had attacked a villager in the presence of other villagers, which prompted the community to hunt it down.
Scores of people gathered at the Government Complex in Mutare last Thursday afternoon to catch a glimpse of the large crocodile which lay lifeless at the back of a Parks and Wildlife truck.
The Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Cde Mandi Chimene, told The Weekender that she had instructed Parks and Wildlife officials last month to investigate the matter following reports of people suspiciously disappearing in Burma Valley.
“We received information that fear had now gripped villagers in Burma Valley with reports of 10 missing people since mid-last year. The last person who would have been number 11 was attacked by this crocodile in the presence of witnesses. I summoned the National Parks and Wildlife Authority officials last month after the report of the attack on 12 February and asked them to go and inspect the area.
“They spent a few days there and confirmed there was a crocodile in Mazonwe River,” she said.
Minister Chimene said further investigations by the Parks and Wildlife officials revealed that the crocodile was marked which showed that it had been tamed somewhere.
“It took two weeks for the Parks and Wildlife officials to trap and catch the crocodile. They put up three traps before catching it. The first two were dog meat traps. These were meant to tame the crocodile to have an appetite for dog meat.
“The third and last trap on (last week) Thursday was of a live dog,” said Minister Chimene.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority area manager Kwanele Manungo said it took them at least 30 minutes for the crocodile to fall to the dog bait.
“We caught it around 9am. We first used a heavy calibre rifle, a dot.375 rifle, and fired one shot. Two more shots with an AK-47 finished the work and killed the crocodile,” she said.
She said the next step will be to gather more resources and quarantine the area and check if there are more crocodiles.
“Nile crocodiles are very social crocodiles. They share basking spots. Large, old males like this one we caught are often at the top of the hierarchy and have primary access to food and the best basking spots,”said Manungo.
Minister Chimene added that the Mazonwe River catchment area had a school nearby so there was need to contain the reptiles in the event there were still more left.
According to Wikipedia Nile crocodiles are opportunistic apex predators and very aggressive species capable of taking almost any animal within its range.
It is one of the most dangerous species of crocodile and is responsible for hundreds of deaths of humans every year. The giant crocodiles on average range between 4,1 metres to 5 metres, weighing around 410kg.
However, specimens measuring 6,1 metres in length and weighing 907kg have been recorded.
Online Reporter