In the three years that I am working in the Limbe Wildlife Centre we have released many dwarf crocodiles, who are critically endangered. They live in small rivers and it is not difficult to find suitable release sites around Limbe. For Nile crocodiles it is not so easy, because they only survive in big rivers that are not found close to the LWC. Last week we released two Nile crocodiles that were rescued from the bush meat trade. It was quite an adventure to reach the perfect release site.
The day started at 6 am with the catching of the crocodiles. Jonathan and Killi are great keepers and they are very fast. That is very useful when you have to grab a crocodile. On the other hand, I am much more useful making the pictures. The mouths and the legs were tied with rubber and the crocodiles were placed in the back of our pick-up. Then the long trip to Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve began.
The roads in this part of the world are not always good, so it took some effort to arrive at the reserve. But that was only the beginning. In order to reach the perfect release site the team had to track for three hours, crossing several small streams, carrying the crocodiles wrapped in a tarp. On the picture you can see Egbe and Kenneth carry one crocodiles together. The local authorities had asigned some foresters with guns to come along, because they thought the crocodiles might eat the people of the release team.
The day came almost to an end when the team arrived at the river. The crocodiles were unwrapped and untied and then released in the water.
It is good to see that these two crocodiles are back where they belong.
Best wishes, Simone
One Comment
Thank you for your time, effort, and caring to release these two critically endangered crocs back into the wild where they belong. Glad they didn’t eat you :>)