A conservation group has urged the eThekwini Municipality not to shoot a large crocodile that lives in the uMngeni River.
|||Durban - A conservation group has urged the eThekwini Municipality not to shoot a large crocodile living in the uMngeni River near Durban’s Windsor Park municipal golf course.
Gary Cullen, project manager of the Durban Green Corridor, an initiative that protects nature and conservation of the uMngeni River valley and estuary, urged the municipality on Wednesday to capture the animal instead.
This follows the issuing by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife of a permit authorising the municipality to destroy the crocodile, which has eluded wildlife rangers for more than a year.
“If they can shoot it, surely they can capture it,” Cullen said.
“We understand that this is a delicate matter as public safety is concerned, but there is something special about having a wild animal in such a natural area,” he said.
Cullen, with a local canoe club and several conservation bodies operating around the uMngeni River, believes that there are more crocodiles in the area.
He said most of the crocodiles were in the murky waters of the uMngeni River between the Connaught Bridge and the N2 overpass bridge.
“From our point of view, it is best for the crocs to be captured and relocated instead of killed.”
Ezemvelo issued the kill permit in November.
Cedric Coetzee, the general manager for Ezemvelo East, said in an earlier interview that wildlife rangers had tried - before issuing the permit - to capture the croc for more than a year without success.
Thembinkosi Ngcobo, head of the municipality’s parks and recreation department, had said public safety was paramount.
Bianca Morgan, spokeswoman for Wildlife and Environment Society of SA, said the crocodile was classified as a dangerous animal.
“The human/animal conflict is very difficult to deal with as there are a lot of sensitivities,” she said.
“It is very similar to the human/animal conflict with monkeys and can be extremely controversial. I don’t see the situation playing out very differently than them unfortunately destroying the animal.”
Margaret Burger of Umgeni Estuary Conservancy said:
“You are weighing up urban space where people fish for livelihoods and engage in recreational activities against minimal habitat for biodiversity to occur and other species to survive. In addition, there are workers who are doing invasive plant control, so there is risk there, too
.”
The conservancy also believed there were more crocodiles in the area.
However, while she said she understood why authorities wanted to kill the crocodile, she was against it.
“I think they should be relocated. The fact that they are there and are able to feed themselves shows that the river is healthy and there is fish.
“They could be a tourist attraction, but at the same time there is a risk, just like shark nets and sharks.
“But it is the human element that causes the error.”
Kingfisher Canoe Club spokesman, Wayne McNaughton, said the crocodile was a danger to paddlers.
“Many of the paddlers have seen the croc, but none of them said it was as long as 2m, as was reported this week.
“However, it would be quite sad if they had to destroy the croc.”
John Hooper lives in Riverside Road on the north bank of the river. He took a picture of it in January as the crocodile was basking in the sun.
He thinks it should be left alone or captured instead of being killed. “If it was a high risk, it would have killed someone by now.”
He said there was no evidence to suggest that there was more than one crocodile in the river. “I think people are just being ignorant, the crocodile poses no harm to individuals.
“It enjoys being there as it feeds on fish and bird life.”
Daily News