Crocodile spotted in Vaal River
“I only realised once I sat down, that the stream was coming down, but the log was moving upstream.”
A local fisherman, Mr Anthony Hopkins, allegedly spotted a crocodile in the Vaal River near the old steel bridge about 4m away from the bank on 1 April.
Mr Hopkins said he caught a small yellow fish at about 6.15am and while releasing the fish back into the water, he spotted what he deemed at first to be a large log coming downstream.
“I did not make much of it as the current of the Vaal River is quite strong and you usually see all kinds of debris floating down river.
“I only realised once I sat down, that the stream was coming down, but the log was moving upstream.”
According to Mr Hopkins, he took out his cell phone and took a picture and once he zoomed in on the log he discovered it was in fact a crocodile.
“For a moment I was benumbed with horror as I have been catching fish in the Vaal River for almost 30 years and have never seen or heard of a crocodile in the Vaal.”
The Standerton Advertiser sent the photo to the Department of April Fisheries and was told that it was in actual fact not the first time a crocodile has been spotted in the Vaal River.
Mr Slimman Gotcha of the department said that on 1 April 1963 a crocodile of almost 3m in length was spotted on the banks of the river.
“Another crocodile was spotted by canoeist, Mr April Fool, on 1 April 1989.”
“We are inclined to believe after reviewing the evidence and historic reports that there is a tendency for these crocodiles to only appear on the first of April.”
Crocodile tears were shed for this endangered specie by the South African Fake News Agency.
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(Happy April Fool’s Day!)
