Crocodile kills boy fishing to pay school fees

A 13-year-old boy trying to collect dead fish to pay his school fees was killed by a crocodile in southern Zimbabwe last week.

Owen Chianga and his friend Liberty Ruzivo, 15, were attacked by two crocodiles at about lunchtime last Thursday while they were fishing in the Save River near the village of Birchenough Bridge.

Chauruva Ruzivo, Liberty's father, ran to the river when he heard his son screaming for help, he told the local Manica Post newspaper. There were two crocodiles and he was able to extricate his son from the jaws of one.

"I rushed to the scene and saw [Liberty] wrestling with one of the crocodiles. By the time I arrived, his friend had been overpowered and dragged into the dam. I held my son by his upper body and pulled him from the jaws of the crocodile," he said.

The boys had waded further into the water than usual after noticing dead fish floating in the water, possibly as a result of pollution from diamond mines in nearby Marange. In 2014 up to 1,000 cattle were reported to have died because of pollution in the river.

A drought that has dragged on for more than two years has made food scarce in Zimbabwe and so the boys waded in to collect the fish, which they could sell to villagers.

Mr Ruzivo said that Owen, whose body was found in a tunnel on Friday, would often go fishing because his father was disabled and unable to pay school fees. He added that his son had been treated at a local hospital for a wounded heel.

A local councillor said that a traditional leader in the area recently lost all his cattle to crocodiles.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in crisis since the early 2000s, which caused a violent land-grab campaign by the veterans of the country's war of independence. White farmers were forced to flee and the country, which used to be known as the bread basket of Africa, suffered economic collapse.

The country has been gripped by a liquidity crisis for much of the past year, leading to riots after the government was unable to pay many of its workers.

A cruel crocodile exhibit

Why does the American Museum of Natural History need to use live crocs to make its point?

Part of the mission of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has always been to raise awareness of all animals, not just the cute, furry ones. So you might think that we would welcome the fact that the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is trying to educate visitors about alligators and crocodiles, two of the most misunderstood animals on the planet.

And we would, if the museum's "Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World" exhibit didn't involve confining intelligent, sensitive animals to tiny glass boxes and encouraging people to support the cruel exotic-skins trade. In its current form, the museum's exhibit is exploitative, not educational, and sends the harmful message that wild animals are ours to dominate and use for profit. The AMNH should align its actions with its professed intention — to instill in visitors a "greater appreciation" for these animals — by shutting this exhibit down.

Alligators and crocodiles are wild animals whose specialized needs can never be met in captivity. In their natural homes, alligators thrive in rivers and lakes and travel long distances with members of their own kind.

Researchers have found that the hundreds of dots along the jaws of alligators and crocodiles are sensory organs that are more sensitive to touch than human fingertips. This makes sense, because mother alligators use their jaws as we would use our hands: to gently crack open their eggs and carry their babies.

Crocodile interrupts Australian couple's nighttime swim

Alligators talk to one another through hisses, yelps, coughs and other sounds, and crocodiles can recognize their own names, as a pair of dwarf crocodiles at a facility in England have demonstrated.

A University of Tennessee psychology professor who has spent 3,000 hours observing crocodiles released a study showing that alligators and crocodiles even play: Crocodiles surf ocean waves for fun, young alligators repeatedly slide down slopes and baby alligators go for rides on their older friends' backs.

But in captivity, they are reduced to props, subjected to unnecessary stress and discomfort and exposed to noisy crowds and screaming children who bang on the glass tanks.

Even worse, the exhibit includes a sign encouraging visitors to buy products made from ranched crocodile skins. Even after PETA sent the museum's president undercover footage of crocodiles being made to suffer horribly in the exotic-skins trade, this sign remains up as part of the exhibit. Is this really the message that we want to send to our children?

Jaguar kills alligator by biting into the back of its skull

From Texas to Zimbabwe, PETA eyewitnesses have documented the terrible conditions in which alligators and crocodiles are factory-farmed for "luxury" handbags, belts and watchbands.

On a Texas alligator farm, PETA's eyewitness found alligators in dank, dark sheds with water so fetid that it made the skin on their sensitive jaws raw, which a manager admitted was painful. Some were still conscious, kicking and flailing, even minutes after their necks were literally sawed open in a crude attempt to kill them.

In Zimbabwe, tens of thousands of Nile crocodiles are confined to concrete pits-deprived of everything natural and important to them-from birth to slaughter. It takes three to four crocodiles to make just one "luxury" bag.

Putting live animals on display does not help children learn about them. An article in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums magazine Connect detailed a study that found visitors to zoos rarely "retained even a few basic facts" from animal displays. When asked, "What did you learn at this exhibit?" the most common answer was "Nothing."

As the AMNH's own dinosaur wing perfectly illustrates, with a little creativity, we can inspire children to care and learn about animals without using captive animals as props.

Confining animals to cages or tanks and exploiting them for their skins is a relic of an unenlightened past. PETA urges the AMNH to relegate "Crocs" to the history books and replace it with a truly educational — and ethical — exhibit. We stand ready to help.

Howard Springs Holiday Park crocodile ‘Snuggles' found

HE'S travelled quite a few kilometres but ‘Snuggles' is finally back in his rightful home.

The Howard Springs crocodile was taken from his home at the holiday park in the early hours of Sunday morning but was found after the NT News started a hunt.

"We've got a lot of response from the community with information on spottings," park office manager Nine Lavender said.

"Then (on Tuesday night) we got a call from a lady who had found him in a bush. She'd seen him earlier in the week, thought it was a bit weird and took him home."

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Snuggles had travelled from Howard Springs to a bush in Chicken Ln, before being taken to Virginia.

"He's really been around," Ms Lavender said.

"Now we've got to figure out a way to keep him pinned down so he can't go on any more adventures."

The croc, which weights 78kg and is 3m long, has adorned the entrance of the park for more than 15 years.

Egypt eyes crocodile-breeding to boost exports

Cairo: Egypt has disclosed an ambitious plan to export crocodiles as a new source of foreign currency for the dollar-hungry country.

The plan was outlined this week in parliament by Environment Minister Khalid Fahmi who called for legislation to allow the export of the reptile known for its quality skin.

The move comes as Egypt is struggling to revitalise its economy battered by years of turmoil in the Arab world's most populous country of 92 million people.

"I am convinced that investment in crocodile breeding has economic returns as one crocodile now sells for $400 (Dh1,469)," Fahmi told the parliament's Environment Committee on Sunday.

He added that a site has been designated for breeding crocodiles in Lake Nasser behind the high dam in Upper Egypt where there are an estimated 3,000 crocodiles at present.

The project is undertaken by an Egyptian company in cooperation with experts from Zambia and South Africa, according to the official.

"The problem of the excessive number of crocodiles in Lake Nasser can be turned into economic benefits. The Environment Ministry has drawn up a national programme for the breeding of the Nile crocodiles in Egypt."

The Nile crocodile is the largest in Africa and generally regarded as the world's second-largest after the saltwater crocodile.

The average size of the Nile crocodile ranges from 4.5 metres to 5.5 metres.

Fahmi said that Egypt's potential export of the Nile crocodile has become possible after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an inter-governmental pact aimed at protecting wild animals and plants, has allowed trade in this specimen under certain restrictions.

"CITES no longer prohibits Egypt from exporting the Nile crocodile. But until now, unlike other African countries, Egypt has not got an export quota because we have no experience in breeding crocodiles," the official said.

"We seek to make use of African expertise in setting up crocodile farms in Egypt. There is a global demand for the Nile crocodile because of its high-quality skin."

The official expected Egypt to start exporting its crocodiles by 2020.

In recent months, Egypt has stepped up its efforts to increase its exports that stood at $18.3 billion (Dh67.22 billion) in 2015 against imports worth $64 billion that year, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics.

"It is necessary to encourage local and foreign investment in crocodile-breeding farms in Egypt," Fahmi told lawmakers.

He added that his ministry is ready to approve the construction of commercial aquariums for crocodiles.

The Egyptian economy has been in the doldrums due to the unrest, which followed the 2011 uprising that scared away tourists and investors.

The country's foreign currency reserves have dwindled from their peak 36 billion dollars in 2010 to 19 billion in October this year.

Costa Rica's crocodile conflict

Crocodiles bask in the sun below the Tárcoles bridge near Jacó. Lindsay Fendt/The Tico Times

Around 7 a.m. on July 22, 59-year-old Jon Becker had finished surfing off of Tamarindo’s Playa Grande. Becker put one foot in the Playa Grande Estuary, which separates the town’s two main beaches, but before he could even hop on his surfboard to paddle across, a crocodile clamped down on his leg.

With help from a friend and a lifeguard, Becker got free of the crocodile and back to shore. Doctors at the Enrique Baltodano Hospital in Liberia were able to save Becker’s life, but not his right leg, which was amputated below the knee.

The incident was the third crocodile attack in the Playa Grande Estuary since 2013, and the seventh reported attack in Costa Rica this year. Despite its small size and population, Costa Rica is tied with Brazil for the most reported crocodile attacks in the Americas this year, according to CrocBITE, which compiles reports of croc attacks worldwide.

The severity of the latest attack and its occurrence at a popular vacation spot spurred an instant reaction from tourism leaders, who complained that the Environment Ministry (MINAE) has not done enough to manage the country’s croc populations. Local surfers also protested on the beach after the attack, holding painted surfboards with slogans like, “stop crocodiles.”

Employees of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) in Tamarindo have now teamed up with the Tamarindo Development Association (ADIT) to try and address the town’s problems with crocodile-human conflict. But the issue persists in the rest of the country. Despite complaints, MINAE has yet to announce a comprehensive plan to deal with Costa Rica’s high number of croc attacks.

The Tamarindo Plan

Positioned near both Tamarindo’s most popular surf break and the entrance to Las Baulas National Park, the Playa Grande Estuary is the perfect hotbed for croc-human conflict. Surfers crossing from Playa Grande back to Tamarindo have to either cross through or near the estuary or drive the 30-minute roundabout route that circumnavigates the park. Because of the popularity of the Playa Grande waves and the protected status of the approximately 88 American Crocodiles in Las Baulas National Park, neither group is willing to budge.

Instead of removing crocodiles or banning surfing in the area, SINAC and ADIT hope to allow the two groups to coexist. Warning signs have already been placed around the estuary, but the groups are putting most of their efforts behind stopping illegal feeding of crocodiles by boat tour operators and accidental feeding by fishermen gutting their fish near the estuary.

According to crocodile experts, crocodiles that have been fed by humans can begin to associate people with food and become more aggressive.

“That is the biggest problem and we are solving it,” said Rotney Piedra, the administrator of Las Baulas National Park. “We are sending out documentation to tour companies so they will have to register to take their boats into the park and we are doing more frequent patrols of the area.”

ADIT has also promised to place a surveillance camera near the estuary to help monitor illegal feeding, and SINAC is going to conduct population studies to determine if any crocodiles need to be removed to prevent future attacks.

“To me, the idea of removing a crocodile violates the entire premise of a national park,” Piedra said, “but if one crocodile is going to continue attacking, we need to take that into account.”

Tamarindo surfers recently painted boards to warn about crocs in the estuary. (Courtesy: Andrea Díaz)

Crocodile sanctuary

To reduce conflict, crocodile conservations say more efforts are needed throughout the entire country. Illegal crocodile feeding occurs regularly at tourist hotspots like the Tárcoles River bridge. Besides these hotspots, many attacks occur in rural areas where people live in close contact with crocodiles.

On August 1, Costa Rica’s National Tourism Chamber (Canatur), announced it would not support any tours that feature wildlife feeding, and asked visitors to avoid taking such tours. The announcement comes two years after SINAC promised to crack down on crocodile feeding tours on the Tárcoles River.

For Shawn Heflick, a conservation biologist and crocodile researcher based near the Tárcoles, the problem is more complex than simply banning crocodile feeding tours.

“What you have is a lack of education,” Heflick said. “People know the crocs are there but they perceive these crocodiles as something harmless like green iguanas. Because there has never been a major attack in their area or the attacks don’t happen frequently enough, people don’t behave differently.”

Heflick has already taken the first steps toward building the education plans he believes Costa Rica needs by building a crocodile sanctuary near the Tárcoles bridge. The sanctuary, Crocodile Conservation International, has been awaiting MINAE approval since October. If opened, it would take in crocs slated to be killed by MINAE due to aggression or for population control.

According to Heflick, the crocodiles would be displayed to the public and used in educational workshops. The money gathered from the sanctuary would be used to fund crocodile research and educational campaigns.

Kill the crocs?

While crocodile conservationists across the board believe that education and cracking down on feeding is part of the solution, some don’t believe it goes far enough. Juan Bolaños, a member of the Association of Central America Crocodile Specialists and a frequent consultant for SINAC, believes that MINAE needs to start killing more crocs.

“There needs to be an institutional effort to get control of the population,” Bolaños said. “Any aggressive crocodiles need to go.”

For the last six years, Bolaños has worked with SINAC in the Tempisque River to select crocodiles to kill or relocate before breeding season. The annual crocodile cull was deemed necessary in 2010 after the discovery of a severe imbalance in the sex ratio.

Crocodile sex, as with many reptiles, is determined by the temperature during egg incubation. Scientists believe that climate change and deforestation are driving the temperature too high and causing a surplus of male crocodiles.

Unable to find mates, male crocodiles have become more aggressive, a trait Bolaños believes endangers the species as a whole.

“If we don’t do away with aggressive crocodiles in a responsible way, people are going to start doing it for us,” he said.