Let crocodiles live, but not at the expense of people's lives

 Needless to say, the survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave concern to all of us in Tanzania and the world at large. These wild creatures are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration, but are an integral part of our natural resources and our future livelihood and well-being.

 

Of late, however, there have been worrying reports of  crocodiles in Lake Victoria terrorizing people’s lives to the extent that fishing activities in the lake have stopped, and women and children are scared of using the waters for domestic chores like washing clothes and household utensils. 

 

A recent incident in Chelameno village, Geita Region where a primary school pupil was snatched away by a croc, never to be seen again, has served to illustrate the extent of the problem. We are told that hardly a month passes by without such gruesome news of crocs devouring human beings in the lake waters. 

 

And perhaps the most disturbing part of the whole thing is that when these reptiles strike, help does not come immediately.

 

It is also reported that in districts like Geita, the wildlife departments do not have the necessary caliber of weapons to deal with crocodiles and other wildlife species that tend to create havoc among locals. The guns that game rangers carry are old, and sometimes misfire when aimed at wild animals, thereby placing the ranger in an extremely precarious, life-threatening situation.

 

While we respect wild animals as an important natural resource for the country, we strongly believe that the lives of these animals should not be held in higher esteem than human lives. It is the people who at all times should benefit from wildlife, and not the other way round. 

To quote a wildlife sector review carried out in the 1990s by natural resource authorities in the country: “It is essential to the future of wildlife conservation in Tanzania that local communities who live amongst the wildlife should derive direct benefit from it.” This was a key part of the 1998 Wildlife Policy and its emphasis on making wildlife a competitive form of land use. The policy was based on the economic reality that for wildlife to be conserved outside the protected areas, it must generate benefits at the village level.

 

But in many parts of the country, the opposite is true, with wildlife species claiming the lives of people almost with impunity. There are even claims by some people in the affected areas that animal rights are being more enforced than human rights. 

 

A proper research therefore needs to be done to determine the total population of crocodiles in water sources like Lake Victoria, and crop them if the numbers seem hard to control. We should not just sit back and allow our women and children to be eaten by crocs without doing something about it.