UPDATE: Search for missing crocs continues in KZN

It is believed the officers stopped the truck last month after they spotted the 3 000 crocodiles with their heads poking out of the cargo hold as they drove past. When the officers questioned the driver, they discovered the permit to transport the crocodiles had expired.

Chaos ensued, and some of the crocs, less than a metre long, managed to break free, and one was killed by a passing vehicle.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife communications manager Musa Mntambo told The Citizen wildlife officers were searching for the two missing crocs. Mntambo has appealed to the community to immediately alert Ezemvelo Wildlife should they spot the crocs. Mntambo said the crocs did not pose a threat to nearby residents.

NSPCA Farm Animal Protection Unit manager Andries Venter told The Citizen the unit was concerned about the welfare of these crocs and whether the two missing ones would survive or not. Venter added the unit would investigate if standards to transport crocs had been met. The crocodiles were being transported from Crammond, KwaZulu-Natal to Limpopo.

Last Wednesday, a decapitated Nile crocodile was discovered hidden in a garbage bin outside the Marloth Shopping Centre in Marloth Park, Mpumalanga. A reward of up to R5 000 has been offered for anyone with information that can lead to the apprehension and successful conviction of the perpetrator.

Chairperson of the Marloth Park Property Owners Association (MPPOA), Pat Wilmans said they had notified the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) because it was the carcass of a Nile crocodile, which is a protected species on the CITES Red List.

– Caxton News Service