CROCODILE THAT ATE 80 PEOPLE

[Anonymous]

Killer crocodile snared in Uganda
16-foot beast ate scores of people, officials sayMarch , 2005

KAMPALA, Uganda – A
16-foot-long (5-meter-long) crocodile said to have eaten more than 80 people has
been caught alive in Uganda and transferred to a sanctuary, officials said
Tuesday.

The giant beast —
weighing about a ton — was captured by wildlife experts who spent three nights
camping in the bush before locating their target.

Residents told
local media the crocodile killed 83 people over the last two decades, mostly
fishermen plying their trade on Lake Victoria off the shores of Bugiri
district.

“Much as the
residents of Luganga wanted to kill the reptile after our rangers had captured
it, it is our responsibility to protect it by removing it from that area and
keeping it in a safe place,” Uganda Wildlife Authority spokeswoman Lillian
Nsubuga told Reuters.

The beast —
reportedly more than 60 years old — was trapped using ropes and transported by
pickup truck to the Buwama crocodile farm, west of the capital,
Kampala.

The state-owned New
Vision newspaper said it “roared” as it was released into a holding ground at
the farm Monday.

Crocodiles
sometimes attack and kill villagers collecting water or fishing in Lake
Victoria, Africa’s biggest lake.

[Author]

March 12, 2005 at 10:43 AM