Two children died and another was injured following a crocodile attack on the banks of the Lúrio River, in the Etatara administrative post, Niassa province, northern Mozambique, an official source told Lusa on Thursday.
“We have information that it was indeed two girls, aged 11 and 13, who lost their lives due to the crocodile attack,” said Isabel Cavo, delegate of the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) in Niassa province.
According to the official, the reptile also injured a 12-year-old girl in the same attack while the group was by the riverbank. Teams from the INGD, the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), and the Mozambique Republic Police (PRM) went to the incident site to assess the situation and attempt to neutralise the animal.
“This is a case of human-wildlife conflict, and the local government is also on the ground raising community awareness to take the necessary precautions,” added the INGD delegate for the northern province of Mozambique.
According to a report from the Mozambican National Institute of Statistics (INE), 159 deaths from wild animal attacks were recorded in 2023, nearly tripling the number of fatalities compared to the previous year.
More than half of these deaths in 2023 occurred in Tete province (70), followed by Zambézia (31), according to INE data. Tete alone has recorded 137 deaths since 2019, according to the same records.
“With regard to areas of crops destroyed by wild fauna, in 2023 there was destruction of 1,490 hectares, with Gaza province experiencing the greatest damage (68.3%), followed by Tete with 16.3%,” the document states.
Source: Lusa