New Era

KATIMA MULILO â€" Before a giant crocodile pounced on him after it craftily plotted his ambush in a swampy area east of Katima Mulilo, almost dragging him to a sudden and untimely watery death, 37-year-old Laurence Sitali Limbo was a sole breadwinner.

Without grumbling, he willingly provided to immediate family members and often to a clan of relatives, giving them the bare essentials such as a generous supply of tasty tilapia.

But one afternoon on August 28 last year, his simple communal existence came crashing down after a man-eating crocodile that was camouflaged by its environment suddenly exploded out of the knee-length water, clamping its vice-like jaws onto his left leg.

This sequence of events in the form of primitive violence involving this pre-historic beast occurred within a fraction of a second, and before he regained his senses, he was being dragged towards deeper waters by the unbelievably powerful man-eating creature.

But the fortunate part is while the fisherman screamed because the crocodile had ripped off his left calf and its jaws sliced through the bone in his lower right leg, a group of fishermen armed with spears heard the commotion, rushed to the scene and managed to spear the crocodile and clubbed it with wooden sticks while they made a lot of noise.

This heroic act, though it went unnoticed and unrewarded, saved his life and the hunter after being turned into the hunted unclamped its jaws and escaped, leaving its victim screaming and bleeding profusely as the others dragged him to safety.

Colgar Sikopo, the Deputy Director for Parks and Wildlife Management, and Charles Musiyalike the Chief Control Warden for the North-East Regional Services have been notified about the near tragedy that has left Limbo with one leg and highly tramautised.

Speaking to a New Era journalist who traced him to his village, the victim says he wants the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to compensate him with at least N$60Â 000 so that he can be able to procure a prosthetic leg to replace the right one that had to be amputated above the knee because of the extent of the injuries inflicted by the crocodile.

Recollecting his ordeal at his village at Nantungu in the Nfooma area east of Katima Mulilo, the victim who now uses State-issued crutches to move around, said his world turned upside down shortly after he went to Mahinda, a perennial lake awash with tilapia.

"I was wading through one ford on the river after I and a group of others cast our nets so that in the afternoon, we could go and check the amount of our catch for the day, when suddenly a crocodile exploded out of the water clamping my leg," he said.

Initially, the reptile sank its teeth into his left leg, ripping away his calf before it clamped him on the right leg dragging him into deeper waters as he screamed while paralysed with untold fear, as he was afraid he was going to be drowned before savagely being devoured.

Fortunately, the other fishermen heard his spine-chilling screams and swung into action, attacking the monstrous croc with spears and eventually rescuing him, he said.

After being rescued, the fishermen took him to a dry riverbank and summoned other villagers who came to the scene with an ox-drawn sleigh. Thereafter, an ambulance with paramedics went to Nantungu and transported him to Katima Mulilo State Hospital.

After a few days in Katima Mulilo, he was referred to Rundu where doctors decided to amputate his right leg as they could not save it and it was becoming infected.

Several villagers at Nantungu have not been so lucky to tell their tale with these reptiles as they paid the ultimate price including a primary school girl who lost her life last year.

And for now, it appears this luckless villager, who says he suffers recurring nightmares of the crocodile attack, has to learn to live without a leg and with another severely scarred because the Ministry of Environment and Tourism says it will not compensate him.

Sikopo yesterday said: "We don't have a compensation scheme or policy. Government does not have a compensation policy but with the approval of the National Policy on Human Wildlife Management by Cabinet earlier this year, we have introduced a Human Wildlife Self-Reliance Scheme.

"Unfortunately, it does not cover for injuries, it's quite unfortunate but we really sympathise with him and his family," explained Sikopo who added this year crocodiles killed five people in Namibia while last year seven people lost their lives.

Victims of hippos this year were only two, last year a similar number lost their lives and in 2007, the figure stood at four. Elephants this year killed one person, as was last year.

But in terms of the compensation scheme, families of villagers killed by wild animals stand to pocket N$5Â 000 to assist them with funeral costs such as the purchase of a coffin.

The other aspect covered under this scheme is crop damage caused by wild animals for which the claimants are paid N$800 for each hectare damaged provided such animals including hippos and elephants contributed to the bulk of crop damage.

This policy also provides for stock losses if such livestock comprises cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys and pigs.

"I just want to caution people to be vigilant when they are conducting their activities in the river especially when they catch fish. They have to do it in the safest manner possible.

"Crocodile attacks are a special concern to us and it really worries us because most of the attacks are of people swimming in the rivers. So, we strongly advise that people collect water and wash on the banks of the river because swimming in these rivers puts their lives at risk," stated Sikopo.

"But maybe, it is also important to mention that through conservancy programmes, we are making [available] these species such as elephants, hippos and crocodiles for utilisation by the communities through trophy hunting and utilisation of meat for their own use," he said.

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