Londoner helps African villages to keep children safe from maneating crocs

 
Captured: Peter Prodromou with one of the crocodiles spotted in Lake Edward, Uganda. The 15ft reptile was treated for cuts and released in a national park 250km away
10 April 2012

A man from north London who succeeded in his mission to catch a killer crocodile pledged today to help the inhabitants of an African country live safely alongside the reptiles.

Wildlife expert Peter Prodromou from Highbury flew to Uganda to lead a team of government officials in their efforts to catch the 15ft creature, which ate a child on Christmas Day.

During the expedition last month they spotted two big crocodiles in Lake Edward but only managed to capture one of them.

The reptile, nicknamed Gaddafi, was removed from its location near the village.

He said: "We spent some time working out how many killer crocodiles were out there. Most of them were quite small, but on the third day of being on the shores we found two very large crocodiles that were 15 feet plus.

"They were spending lots of time around near where Joshua [the attacked boy] was killed."

Using a dead hippo as bait, the team created a snare in the river. They dragged the crocodile back to shore with a boat before putting rope around its jaws.

They then took it to be treated for a cut on its back, before releasing it in a national park 250 kilometres away.

Mr Prodromou, 29, warned villagers that another potential man-eating beast remains in the lake, but said that moving crocodiles around is not the solution to the problem.

Mr Prodromou, who as a teenager flew to Florida several times a year to learn how to train alligators, wants to work with Ugandan authorities to teach villagers about the dangers of crocodiles and build barriers in lakes to prevent children swimming near them.

He also plans to visit an Islington primary school to teach pupils what it is like for children in Africa living alongside the huge reptiles. He said: "We captured a crocodile but there's not going to be a good outcome unless we set up a long-term project with proper support."

He added that there were about 200 to 300 villages affected by crocodile-human conflict.

He said he is especially attracted to the reptiles because they are a challenge to work with.

He said: "There are animals like lions and chimps and you can understand those animals very easily.

"When you capture crocodiles it's an animal that doesn't give off any signs, they won't tell you when they're in pain, but they're quite intelligent, very powerful and they are a very old animal, they can live for many years."

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