Croc terror at farm
November 22 2009 at 11:16AM



By Annie Dorasamy

A Reservoir Hills man harvesting vegetables on the banks of Durban's Mgeni River got the fright of his life when a crocodile snapped its jaws centimetres from his hand.

Farmer Nivash Dhookran was alone plucking herbs when the reptile, which had been basking in the sun in the vegetation, suddenly appeared.

"I ran for my life as fast as I could. I didn't think about anything else because I knew it was a crocodile; it was too big to be anything else. If I had stood there for a second longer, it would have eaten me alive and nobody would have known what happened to me," Dhookran said.


Officials from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife visited Dhook-ran's farm on Friday and were assessing how to trap the crocodile.

Dhookran said one of his gardeners had seen the crocodile two weeks ago, but nobody believed him because there had been no proof.

But when Dhookran was harvesting his crops, his suspicions were confirmed.

"I ran to the top of the bank and called as many people as I could see, even the workers and mechanics at the garage.

"The crocodile continued to lie on the river bank for at least an hour and a half and we managed to take a photo of it with my cellphone," Dhookran said.

He said it was the first time in 37 years that a crocodile had been spotted on the farm.

"I have lived here all my life. There were rumours 20 years ago about crocodiles being in the river, but nobody could provide proof. We have also noticed the carp in the river going crazy, and the water ducks, which were plentiful, have gone missing since the first sighting of the crocodile.

"There are only about three ducks left - the rest probably have been eaten by the crocodile," Dhookran said.

He said his brother tried to net the crocodile, but it escaped and might have moved upstream.

The river is popular with canoeists and part of the Dusi marathon route.

Ray De Vries, a spokesman for the Hansa Powerade Dusi organisers, said it was possible the reptile was the same one spotted by a number of paddlers recently below the N2.

People fish in the river and children often picnic in the area, with some families even camping overnight.

Raj Roopnarain, who takes pupils with special needs to the river and farm for exercise and fresh air, said they were now frightened.

"The children are not allowed to come here - until we hear that it is safe again. It's too dangerous for them," she said.

Jeff Gaisford, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesman, said their team were setting traps to track the crocodile.

With the animal estimated to be about two metres long, Gaisford suspects it escaped from a farm along the Mgeni River bank and travelled downstream.

He said crocodiles preferred warm areas and Durban was suitable for them.

"They are really good swimmers and could travel for 20km at night. Their diet is 80 percent fish, but they are also opportunistic feeders and would swallow children and animals, considering the size," he said.

Gaisford warned people to stay away from the river because the crocodile would attack if provoked.


This article was originally published on page 1 of Tribune on November 22, 2009

quote:

would attack if provoked

?????

a 2m crock... the story makes it sound more like an aquatic gorilla than anything else. blown out of proportion.