četvrtak, 1. rujna 2016.

Croc of gold: Kenya's booming crocodile farm industry

If you are working in an enclosure full of crocodiles, don't turn your back on them to answer your mobile phone.
Sadly that is what one member of staff did in May at Collins Mueke's crocodile farm in eastern Kenya.
"He was talking on his phone not aware of his surroundings," says Mr Mueke, 62. "He died while getting treatment in hospital.
"Another worker lost his index finger while handling a young crocodile just a few weeks old. It can be a scary place here, but you have to move on and earn a living."
Welcome to the lucrative, but dangerous, world of crocodile farming.

Like chicken

If you are of a nervous disposition, you probably wouldn't consider farming Nile crocodiles.
The largest species of African crocodile, it is one of the world's most deadly predators.
Growing to five metres (16ft) in length, and typically weighing as much as 750kg (118st), it is renowned for its aggressive nature.
In the wild attacks on humans are commonplace. While exact figures are not available due to incidents going unreported, the Nile crocodile is said to kill hundreds of people in Africa every year.
Mr Mueke has more than 33,000 of the crocodiles at his 300-acre facility in Kitui County, some 180km (112 miles) east of the capital Nairobi.
Led by demand for crocodile meat from China, but also rising domestic sales to the restaurants of upmarket tourist hotels, he says that business has never been better.

"Each crocodile... can fetch you about 5,000 to 7,000 Kenyan shillings for the meat (£30 to £53; $50 to $69)," says Mr Mueke.

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