We're no croc hunters, say Limpopo cops
2013-01-26 18:10
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Scores of houses, schools, bridges and roads were damaged or washed away during eight days of rain in the province. See the pictures.
Johannesburg - Limpopo police said on Saturday they were not involved in hunting down crocodiles that escaped from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm after floods in the province.
"[Police] do not have the capacity or the expertise [to hunt the crocodiles], however we are monitoring the situation on a daily basis," Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said in a statement.
Mulaudzi said there were no incidents reported regarding the crocodiles.
Zane Langman, the son-in-law of Johan Boshoff, who owns Rakwena, told Beeld newspaper on Thursday that around 15 000 crocodiles escaped from the farm into Limpopo River during the floods.
A few thousand crocodiles were recaptured in the dense bush next to the river and in the adjacent orange groves.
Langman told the newspaper he and Boshoff were forced to open the crocodile farm's gates, out of fear that the force of the water would crush the walls of Boshoff's home.
"We've been recapturing them as and when the local farmers phone us to tell us that there are crocodiles on their property.
"In Weipe there were a lot, and I also heard there was a crocodile a on school's rugby field in Musina," Langman said.
Most of the recapturing efforts were taking place at night, he said.
- SAPA
