THE iconic Victoria Falls Bridge, spanning the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia, had an unwelcome visitor on Sunday — a two-metre-long crocodile.
Nokuthaba Dhlamini/ News24.com
The crocodile brought adventure activities to a standstill.
The reptile was lying beside the railway tracks — a place which is popular with tourists, especially bungee jumpers, who launch themselves off the 128-metre-high bridge into the gorge below.
A large group of tourists witnessed the spectacle and recorded it with their phones.
Drivers crossing the bridge also stopped to take a look.
The crocodile was rescued by Paul Teasdale, founder of Zimbabwe Snake Handlers and former Bear Grylls Survival Academy Instructor, who had initially tried to put a noose round the snapping reptile’s deadly jaws, only to give up and used his T-shirt.
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“I work closely with snakes and animals around the country. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) normally call me on different occasions for rescue,” Teasdale said.
“I was then called yesterday [Sunday] (and told) that there was a crocodile at the Victoria Falls Bridge at around 10am and it needed urgent rescue.
“After rescuing it, we handed it over to wildlife officials, but it was taken by Zambians, who claimed that it had come from their side and they took it back to the river. I was not injured and everything went well.”
Shearwater, the company that runs the high-adrenaline activity bunjee jumping, posted a video of the equally high-adrenaline crocodile capture.
Commented Avril Smith on Facebook: “The man of the moment. Crocodile Dundee would have been so proud.”
In other online comments, Zimbabweans have mentioned the fact that the nickname of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the man who’s just been controversially returned to power is — wait for it — The Crocodile.
