Meanwhile, in South Africa, 15,000 Crocodiles Escaped from a Farm

The good news is that some of the 15,000 crocodiles that escaped after recent South Africa floods have been recaptured. The bad news is that there are at least 7,500 missing crocodiles still out there somewhere.  

This article is from the archive of our partner .

The good news is that some of the 15,000 crocodiles that escaped after recent South Africa floods have been recaptured. The bad news is that there are at least 7,500 missing crocodiles still out there somewhere.  The missing crocs belong to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, a tourist attraction in northern South Africa, and made a break for it when their owners had to open the gates to prevent a storm surge, after the nearby Limpopo river swelled under rains. "One turned up on a school rugby pitch 75 miles away," reports the AFP.

South Africa and Mozambique have experienced heavy rains over the past week. The death toll from the rising waters is at 20 while more than 800 flood victims have been rescued. Reuters doesn't specify whether any of them were rescued from crocodiles attacks, but they noted on Tuesday that more than 15,000 people were driven from their homes—about the same number as the number of crocs who spilled into the Limpopo River.

The cleanup and recapture process is being headed by the Zane Langman, the son-in-law of the farm's owner. "There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot. We go to catch them as soon as farmers call us to inform us about crocodiles," Langman told the BBC.  Well, at least he has a system, right?

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
Alexander Abad-Santos is a former writer for The Wire.