The proliferating rate of crocodile attacks on people and domestic animals at Toonya A Village in Buseruka Sub-county, Hoima District has raised the eyebrows of residents and leaders at different levels calling for action and taking action respectively.
It has been revealed that the crocodiles have so far killed two people, injured one and killed more than 20 cows since 2020, according to Mr Henry Katalibwa, the Toonya A Village Chairman in Toonya parish.
He says the residents are still at the odds of being killed by crocodiles that are haboured in the water of Lake Albert since it is from the same source where they draw water for domestic use.
The politician urges UWA to relocate all such life claiming reptiles to other parts of the lake whose shoreline is inhabitable by people.
Following the outcry, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has mobilised to overcome the problem that has become a menace at Toonya Village in Toonya Parish, Buseruka Sub-county in Hoima District.
The remedy to salvage human and animal life from such attacks started on Wednesday with one crocodile trapped from the water that submerged part of the shoreline when the Lake Albert and River Wambabya that empties into the lake flooded parts of Toonya village and till now the area became home to the crocodiles.
The Community Conservation Ranger for Murchison Falls National Park, Mr Sunday Aduga, says it has been realised that there are many crocodiles in Toonya which have to be relocated from near human settlements so as to save people and their animals from attacks.
He discloses that in the operation that began on Wednesday night, one crocodile has so far been trapped from the water with UWA ready to relocate it to Kyoga Nile at Paraa in Murchison Falls National Park.
Mr Aduga adds that the operation to trap other crocodiles away from human territories is still underway.
“In the two nights that we have spent here, we have only managed to trap and catch one crocodile but according to the observation we have made, there are more crocodiles in this water body. Therefore, the team from UWA is still going on with the task of trapping and trans-locating as many crocodiles as possible,” he says.
