Ugandans told to eat croc meat
2010-02-04 21:09


Henry Wasswa
Kampala - An angry Ugandan minister has stirred up murky waters by urging villagers on the shores of Lake Victoria to hunt and eat crocodiles that have been munching up locals.

Villagers in the Bugiri and Mayuge districts in eastern Uganda have for years complained that crocodiles attack fishermen and people fetching water or firewood around the shores of Africa's largest lake.

Although no official statistics are available, it is believed the cold-blooded predators devour dozens of Ugandans each year. Press reports said that in the past two weeks alone, crocodiles have eaten six people in the Mayuge district.

Deputy agriculture minister Aggrey Bagiire, who represents one of the constituencies in the area, has been urging people to strike back.

Bagiire said: I've seen the remains of someone who had been killed by these crocodiles. They are on the rampage. It is incredible.

"We've brought this to the attention of the government... people should be allowed to hunt and kill these crocodiles."

Ugandans do not traditionally eat crocodile meat, Bagiire said, but called on the government to allow hunting because "people's lives are in danger."

Attacks

Crocodile meat is considered an exotic delicacy in neighbouring Kenya, where farms rear thousands of the reptiles and send the meat to upmarket restaurants. The meat is said to be delicious, although rather tough.

However, the calls to allow the hunting of crocodiles in Uganda provoked angry reactions from conservation officials and wildlife staff in the area, who have threatened to arrest anyone found to have killed a crocodile.

A senior official with the government-run Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said that people were bringing the attacks upon themselves.

"The people in those areas move in shallow waters and they also fish in shallow waters. They also bathe there and because of that, they are eaten by the crocodiles," UWA's Director of Operations Sam Mwandha said.

"They encroach on the territory of the crocodiles."

Mwandha said that urging people to go crocodile hunting would endanger the lives of villagers as they have no professional skills for killing the crocodiles.

"Crocodile meat is very delicious, but when you tell people to go and hunt the crocodiles, they will be exposed to more danger ... the animals will end up killing them instead," Mwandha said.

Conservation authorities are encouraging people to take precautions and fish in deep waters where the crocodiles do not venture, he added.

Increased human settlements in areas which were formerly natural crocodile habitats have led to sporadic collisions between humans and the reptiles.


- SAPA