Wild animals kill more than 130 in Mozambique

Wild animals killed at least 133 people and seriously injured 50 in Mozambique last year, the Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday.

“This is a very high figure, but lower than the 144 of last year,” departmental official Tomas Zimba said, confirming that the figures were contained in a ministry report.

Zimba said crocodiles, elephants, lions and cheetahs had killed most of these people.

“Most of the attacks, about 60%, happened in the provinces of Tete, Zambezia [centre] and Cabo Delgado [north],” he said.

In October, the Mozambican government authorised the army to intervene to save the life of any person threatened by a wild animal.

A campaign has also been launched to collect crocodile eggs laid in the Zambezi River basin in a bid to control numbers. The eggs are given to South African breeders who export young crocodiles or sell their skins.—Sapa-AFP