A tourist has reportedly been killed and another was seriously injured in a crocodile attack in Zimbabwe's Matopos National Park in Matabeleland south over the weekend.
According to the state owned Herald newspaper, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority confirmed the incident, saying that tourist John Bowman died on his way to hospital while Rosemary Mitchell was in a critical condition in hospital. Their nationalities were not given.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority spokesperson Tinashe Farawo added that the matter had been reported to the police.
He also advised tourists to stay away from wild animals.
"No matter how domesticated they are, they can be dangerous. It is unfortunate that they were using air pumped boats which are not permissible," Farawo was quoted as saying.
According to reports, there have been several crocodile attacks on humans in the southern African country.
CrocBITE, a worldwide crocodilian attack database manned from Australia, has details of a number of attacks in Zimbabwe stretching back to at least 2010.
The organisation says of crocodile-human conflict situations: "Often people have no choice but to undertake potentially risky activities... People may be fully aware of the risk of encountering a crocodile, but accept that risk anyway."
Source: https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/tourist-killed-by-crocodile-in-zim-20180103
According to the state owned Herald newspaper, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority confirmed the incident, saying that tourist John Bowman died on his way to hospital while Rosemary Mitchell was in a critical condition in hospital. Their nationalities were not given.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority spokesperson Tinashe Farawo added that the matter had been reported to the police.
He also advised tourists to stay away from wild animals.
"No matter how domesticated they are, they can be dangerous. It is unfortunate that they were using air pumped boats which are not permissible," Farawo was quoted as saying.
According to reports, there have been several crocodile attacks on humans in the southern African country.
CrocBITE, a worldwide crocodilian attack database manned from Australia, has details of a number of attacks in Zimbabwe stretching back to at least 2010.
The organisation says of crocodile-human conflict situations: "Often people have no choice but to undertake potentially risky activities... People may be fully aware of the risk of encountering a crocodile, but accept that risk anyway."
Source: https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/tourist-killed-by-crocodile-in-zim-20180103