FISHED OUT
of Forest Sailing Club, is unaware of any sightings.
“This stream became flooded, causing the dam wall of the crocodile enclosure to collapse,” said Buchanan.
“We had to erect the warning signs as prescribed by the department of water affairs but as far as I know, no one has seen a crocodile in the dam. Residents are keeping an eye open and if a crocodile is spotted we will contact the relevant authorities and have it captured.”
Sightings as far as 6km downstream in the North Sand River were reported to MTPA.
“Almost 100 large crocodiles in a six-kilometre stretch are an oversaturation. This, in addition to their tame nature, leads us to predict increased human-crocodile interactions in the near future in this area,” Nkambule said.
Crocodiles were also reported in farm dams in the Kiepersol area.
“The escaped crocodiles could have travelled far in the month since the incident. Ecologically, this will have a negative impact because they might prey on cattle, tons of fish and even humans,” added Nkambule.
The MTPA has set up cage traps in the White Waters River to catch as many of the remaining crocs as possible. A total of 12 were caught last week.
Cowley told Lowvelder he believed there were crocodiles in the rivers and in the Da Gama Dam before his dam wall broke, although the warning signs at the dam were only erected after this incident.
This is contradictory to what Buchanan of the Forest Sailing Club said.
Cowley added he and his team on the farm tried everything in their power to prevent the dam from overflowing. “We knew the storm was coming, so we pumped the dam for three days to prevent overflow. During the second rain after [tropical cyclone] Eloise, however, the walls of a dam on our neighbouring farm higher up on the stream broke and sent a flood down to our dam. That was when the walls of our dam collapsed. At that point, there was nothing we could do to prevent the break.”
Cowley confirmed that the crocodiles were bred for the international crocodile meat and skin market.
“It’s difficult to get hold of these breeding animals, so we probably won’t retake the breeding after this incident.”
Cowley has been breeding crocodiles for this purpose since 2005. The crocodiles that were caught have been relocated to his other farm in Middelburg, where they will remain.
Experts have been summoned to assess the infrastructure of the crocodile breeding facility’s dam.
“At this stage, every indication points to possible legal action against the farm owners,” added Nkambule. – Caxton News Service
When they hear humans they will come closer