Crocodile Eats Mother, 5-Month-Old Baby in Uganda

A crocodile attacked and ate a woman and her 5-month-old baby, who had gone to fetch water from a lake in north-western Uganda, officials announced on Monday.

“We are advising people to avoid areas where these man-eater crocodiles are,” Uganda Wildlife Authority, Spokesman, Bashir Hangi, said.“Crocodiles stay in fish-breeding areas, but when the fish get depleted, they come on the surface and attack and eat humans,” Hangi said.

The attack on the shores of Lake Albert over the weekend y is yet another example of human-animal conflict in Africa.

This is a situation where species often have to fight over natural resources – land and water – and many rural families don’t have access to running water at home.

According to local newspaper, The Daily Monitor, other villagers on the lake shore had tried and failed to save the woman and her baby.

“Residents tried to save her but their efforts were fruitless as the crocodile had already disappeared with her body in the waters,” the paper reported.A 700-kilogramme crocodile which had killed and eaten five people over the past five years was captured on Saturday on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria, another UWA official, Peter Ogwang, said.