/ 18 March 2008

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