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The Forestry team left empty handed but plans to return with better traps which will be placed on these various areas. The general public is again reminded that feeding crocodiles is against the law and individuals caught in the act may be fined.
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Last week, the Forestry Department dispatched a two man team out to San Pedro in an attempt to catch rogue crocodiles and relocate them to remote areas on the mainland.
George Hanson, environmental officer, along with officials from the San Pedro Police Department took the men on a tour of the various sites where crocodiles are mostly seen. Police believe that one of these crocodiles killed 22-year-old Wilber Blanco in the early morning of September 16th. Now, the Forestry Department has been called in to catch the crocodiles. What these men learned after two days of studying and trying every possible technique to trap the croc, were that these crocodiles have gotten accustomed to being fed.
Hanson believes that these crocodiles in the San Pedrito Area have varying lengths ranging from six to 10 feet in length, whilst the crocodile which they attempted to relocated from the lake near Banyan Bay, was estimated to reach up to 10 feet. And by the water plant, the team estimates the crocs to be from five feet to 10 feet in length and would require more than a two man team to relocate them.
George Hanson commented to The Sun that due to their lack of resources and funding, the proper materials and equipment needed to catch these powerful creatures is non-existent at the Forestry Department. It would be easier for us if we had those tranquilizers gun, but the department cannot afford one, so we have to make our own traps. What we do in the mainland when we are called to relocate a rogue croc we have to borrow equipment from the Belize Zoo, ended Hanson. Regardless, the team came close on a number of occasions but in the end, they could not get it to take the bait and enter the trap.
The Forestry team left empty handed but plans to return with better traps which will be placed on these various areas. The general public is again reminded that feeding crocodiles is against the law and individuals caught in the act may be fined.
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