During my time in Zambia, Africa, I had the fortune to work on a crocodile farm. This farm wasn’t the usual ‘for skins and meat’ kind of farm, it was a place where crocodiles that were giving the locals ‘trouble’ were released after capture – by ‘trouble’ I mean eating their livestock or the locals themselves.
The nile crocodile, along with his close relative the salt water crocodile, are two of the most dangerous species of crocodilians. They, if large enough, will not hesitate at making a person part of their diet. Combine this with the fact that in the area why I worked the locals were extremely poor and had to catch fish to feed themselves and you have a unpleasant clash of species.
One species – the crocodile – is a superb stealthy hunter, that can lie in wait for days on end, waiting to spring a deadly ambush. The other species – us – has the ability to use whatever means at his disposal to rid himself of a problem crocodile, and in poor countries this is usually a bullet!
The capture of a crocodile can take place at night, out on the river using search lights to see theirs eyes glowing, or, by using large strong traps baited with rotten meat. Both methods are time consuming, expensive and dangerous. On the river the boat needs fuel, the men need wages, an entire night can go by without a sighting. Then when the croc is harpooned or lassoed there is a massive fight between man and beast, hopefully ending up with both parties uninjured. The laying of a trap big enough to capture a large croc takes manpower, a vehicle with trailer and fuel.
Add up all the costs of capturing a rogue crocodile and then compare that to the price of a bullet and you’ll see which option becomes the prefered one to the local wildlife officials.
So… you have the croc captured and tied up… well done. Then comes the release. Another highly unpredictable situation. Some crocs bolt straight into the water of the enclosure, some just sit there stunned. Everyone of them reacts differently to being untied. The same goes for opening the door of the trap. Some crocs just sit there and need to be left over night to make their own way out, or, on opening of the door there is much commotion and general panic as the croc bolts for the water of the enclosure.
There you have a brief look at the relocation of one of hundreds of species of animals that cause mankind harm everyday. Is it worth it? Would shooting them make the situation better? I’m afraid I’m asking questions I can’t answer! I personally wouldn’t want to be a part of the killing of these animals. Maybe teaching the locals how to avoid being eaten would help! I do feel better however knowing that during my time in Zambia we caught approx 50 crocodiles and hopefully made a little bit of a difference.
