Police join hunt for 10 000 crocodiles
2013-01-25 14:25
Johannesburg - Police have been called to join the hunt
for as many as 10 000 crocodiles on the loose after escaping from a farm during
floods and being washed into one of southern Africa's biggest rivers, officials
said on Friday.
Crocodile farmers, locals and police have trapped
thousands of the reptiles, using plastic bands to tie their legs behind their
backs and then piling them into pick-up trucks.
The flood gates at the Rakwena Crocodile Farm close to
the Botswana and Zimbabwe borders were opened on Sunday because it was feared
that rising flood waters would crush the reptiles, releasing some 15 000
crocodiles into the Limpopo River.
"At night time we have more success. It is much
easier to see them," Zane Langman, whose in-laws own the farm, told news
channel eNCA.
Most of the crocodiles are less than 2m long.
The area is home to several farms that supply crocodile
skins to the fashion industry.
"We are working as a team with the
stakeholders," police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Friday. There
have been no reports of injuries caused by the escaped reptiles.
Police in Zimbabwe, on the other side of the Limpopo,
also issued warnings to people to avoid going into the water because of the
crocodile threat.
Heavy rains and flooding have claimed at least 20 lives
in Mozambique and South Africa and led to the evacuations of thousands.