Croc Terror in Caprivi

Chrispin Inambao

9 November 2010

Kongola — A crocodile killed two-year-old Mashozi Dishala while her grandmother was bathing her on the banks of the Kwando River mid last week.

The afternoon attack also resulted in the grandmother losing flesh on her right hand after the beast initially mauled her and tried to drag her under the water but it left her and attacked her grandchild. The latest incident, like another involving a primary school child, occurred along the crocodile-infested Kwando River in Kongola Constituency where villagers often lose their cattle to the dreaded reptiles.

She is the second victim to die in a space of a few days along the Kwando in Kongola Constituency after Mushabati Muyenga, a 12-year-old sixth grader was killed while fishing with a group of other pupils.

Environment and tourism officials at Katima Mulilo and Mutuso Kenneth, the manager of Kwandu Conservancy, confirmed the two fatal croc attacks.

An SMS was sent to Mutuso shortly after the girl was caught and dragged under water.

He in turn notified environment and tourism officials.

Judith Makwanga, the 37-year-old grandmother of the two-year-old victim, is currently recuperating at Chotto village in the Singalamwe area where friends and relatives are mourning the death of Mashozi.

Her right upper arm is heavily bandaged. She says she suffers from flashbacks of the incident in the form of recurring nightmares whenever she sleeps.

She told New Era she had gone to the river to wash some dishes because her village, like many others dotted along the river, does not have running water.

"I had finished washing the dishes and started to bath Mashozi when the crocodile shot from nowhere and started to drag me towards the main channel," she said.

"I wrestled with the beast and it loosened its grip on my arm but it swam towards the child and attacked her. While it swam towards deeper water, I grabbed it by the tail but it was too strong and I had to let go because it was dragging both of us towards deeper water. And it was gone; it disappeared with the child and I started to scream," she narrated.

Efforts by members of the conservancy to ensnare the man-eater with monkey bait have been in vain but last Saturday, they caught a wrong crocodile.

They said after they killed the ensnared crocodile and cut it open, they found a half digested monkey and a horn in its stomach. This means the culprit remains at large.

Several mourners are still gathered at Chotto with the hope that the crocodile with the child's remains would be caught, because they want to help the bereaved family to put closure to the heart-rending tragedy.

Mutuso and Chali Patrick, the enterprise officer of Kwandu, agree that crocodile-proof fences are needed to protect the Kwandu community and their livestock but they are cost prohibitive.

They say crocodile numbers have increased drastically because even when hunting quotas are allocated, very few crocodiles are hunted successfully because the hunts take place during the day and crocodiles that are nocturnal are not active at that time.

They say this problem could be remedied partially if laws regulating crocodile culling are changed to night-time. Kwando River has an estimated crocodile population of 5000.

Established in 1999, it is endowed with elephant, hippo, kudu, lechwe, impala, bush pig, eland and duiker. About 5000 villagers derive a raft of benefits from the game-rich conservancy that is also endowed with a staggering array of bird species.

Currently, there is a compensation scheme where villagers are paid N$800 for cattle killed by wild animals, while the families of people killed by wild animals are paid N$5000 to cover funeral expenses.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201011090741.html