Living with crocodiles

Emily Fologonya 10, lost her mother to a a crocodile attack last year.

“Her mother was weeding in a maize field located a few metres away from the Shire River when she was attacked. I now also look after her two sisters Margaret, 7, and Chifundo, 4,” says Veronica Kampira, 59, Emily’s grandmother.

Kampira, who lives in Ling’awa Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kasisi in Chikwawa, says crocodile attacks are many in the Lower Shire districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje.

One case registered in Chikwawa is that of Januwale Peter, 34, a fisherman of Dzilozo Village, Traditional Authority Lundu. His body was found floating in Shire River with hands, legs and stomach eaten. A post-mortem conducted at Chikwawa District Hospital confirmed that he was eaten by a crocodile.

“My husband left me with four children. I am having problems feeding the family alone,” laments Cecilia, 23, the late Peter’s wife.

Last year alone, Chikwawa Police Station registered over 15 cases of crocodile attacks. Some bodies disappeared without a trace.

Chikwawa Police public relations officer Sunday Ngulube says a month hardly passes without recording a case of crocodile attack.

“Unfortunately, most of the victims are young people in their productive stage. Most of them are attacked while farming and fishing,” says Ngulube.

Arlon Mangaya, 34, is disabled after being attacked by a crocodile in March last year. He was working in his cotton field when the attack occurred. He worries that he can no longer manage to pay school fees for his two secondary school children.

“My hands and legs were mauled by a crocodile. I can no longer cultivate my cotton field so it is hard to support my children,” he says.

Chikwawa district social welfare officer Mary Mahata says many crocodile victims have approached her office for assistance.

“Most crocodile victims can no longer work. Some have lost their legs or arms and they cannot support their families. We need to find a way to stop these attacks,” Mahata says.

Group village head Ling’awa, whose village has many crocodile victims, says crocodile attacks will remain a challenge if nothing is done to stop it..

He says people risk their lives as most of them farm along the Shire River banks because the soil is fertile.

“Government needs to do something about this. There needs to be a permanent way to keep the crocodiles away from the people. We cannot stop using the river banks because we cultivate our crops there. We also need the river for fishing and irrigation,” says Ling’awa.

However, Ling’awa says the villagers believe that some of the crocodiles are a product of witchcraft.

“Not all crocodiles that attack people in my village are natural. Some are created by individuals through witchcraft. Those people whose bodies could not be traced after the attacks are the ones we believe are manmade,” he explains.

Group village head Sadulo, whose village has also registered many victims, urges government to consider killing crocodiles in the Shire River.

“There are just too many crocodiles in the river. Some have to be killed otherwise we will keep losing lives,” says Sadulo.

However, African Parks in Malawi country director Patricio Ndadzela, an expert in wildlife preservation, says killing crocodiles is not a solution to the problem as the animals are renewable carnivores that can rebreed and multiply within a short period of time.

Ndadzela says government needs to find a long-term solution by assisting the people in the area to avoid encroaching the crocodile habitat.

“Government should strive to enable people to rely less on Shire River. Government can tap water from the river to the people. This will reduce contact between people and crocodiles,” he says.

Ndadzera, who has worked in wildlife for 30 years, adds that the crocodile attacks are rampant because of the depletion of fish in the river, which is crocodile food.

Thus, he urges government to establish fish ponds for the people who rely on fishing to continue earning their living.

Chikwawa district commissioner Alex Mdooko says government will soon embark on intensifying irrigation farming that will rescue people from crocodiles in the area.

“It is indeed worrisome that people are losing lives to crocodiles. As a council, we are embarking on an advocacy campaign to sensitise people to the dangers of encroaching crocodile habitats. The Shire Basin Irrigation Project will be in operation soon and these people will benefit from that,” assured Mdooko.