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DAILY NEWS (Gaberones, Botswana) 09 December 05 Nelson, the crocodile, is no more
Kazungula (BOPA): With his massive jaws and jagged teeth, Nelson was the most fearsome predator that ever lived in the ponds of the Chobe Crocodile Farm.
Even his lifeless and already decomposing body underscores that he was once a huge reptile that fathered most of the crocodiles in the farm.
Chobe Crocodile Farm is located in Kazungula in the Chobe Sub-District, near the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers and it has over 1 000 of these reptiles.
The farm owner, Susan Slogrove, is not even sure about how old Nelson was but estimates that the big reptile was more than 80 years old at the time of his death in July this year.
Measuring more than 5.5 metres without his tail that he lost at a young age, Nelson made the farm famous for he was the oldest and largest crocodile in Chobe, says Slogrove.
She says Nelson was the centre of attraction at the farm with tourists coming from neighbouring countries just to witness this massive crocodile, which responded to instructions and tricks the owner had taught him.
During feeding time Nelson would be told to open and the crocodile would do just that, according to Slogrove.
Full of emotion, she says When we told it to open its mouth a little bit wider during feeding time it used to do a exactly that.
She says Nelson died because of old age, noting that during his last days the crocodile was no longer eating and his situation deteriorated because he had lost his sight. This big giant was so old that he had only one tooth left and as a result was being fed soft meal.
Slogrove has decided not to bury or cremate Nelsons body but to let it decompose so that the remaining skeleton can be displayed either at the farm or the National Museum where it can be of educational value.
This will also help answer the question of exactly how old Nelson was and probably how long a crocodile can live, she says. Slogrove acknowledges the difficulty of determining the age of crocodiles.
The question of age is difficult to answer precisely. Like the question of size of the crocs, it suffers from exaggeration.
She, however, says there are few clues to tell the age of these venerable reptiles, noting that the most common method is to measure lamellar growth rings in the bones and teeth.
She explains that each ring corresponds to a change in the growth rate, which typically occurs once a year between the seasons.
She however dismissed the myth that a crocodiles brain and liver are poisonous. Any meat can be poisonous if not fresh, argues Slogrove.
Nelson, the crocodile, is no more

DAILY NEWS (Gaborone, Botswana) 12 December 05 Eat as much as you weigh, thats what crocs do
Kasane (BOPA): Crocodiles, some of the largest reptiles, are amazing creatures.
They can go for months without food.
They have perfected the art of hunting in water. Livestock and wild animals drinking in rivers -- as well as unsuspecting humans -- have fallen prey to the giant reptiles that strike silently, pulling their victim to the bottom of the water.
A large crocodile can measure up to five meters long and live for more than 100 years. Though with a small brain, crocodiles are observant creatures, calculating every move of its prey before pouncing.
The Chobe Reptile Farm, located in Kazungula in the Chobe Sub-District, near the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers, has more than 1 000 of these reptiles. It was started 20 years ago by the Slogrove family.
The crocodile farm offers free educational tour to schools and sells skins and meat locally and outside Botswana.
The survival rate in the farm is 98 per cent compared to the wild environment where their eggs and newly born fall prey to predators, Susanne Slogrove, the manager of the farm, in an interview with BOPA.
They sometimes kill each other in competition for the scarce food resources, especially when the river is drying but here food id regular thats why they are so many.
Slogrove said an adult crocodile can weigh between 600kg and 700k,g and when hungry, it can eat as much as it weighs.
Depending on how hungry it is, a croc can eat its body weight and can also go for days without eating, she said.
Slogrove said crocodiles were farmed for meat that is sold to lodges in Kasane and skins to South Africa where they are turned into belts, bags and other products.
Though we farm to sell, five per cent of what we hatch is released into the river, she explained. We put them into the river when they are about four years old and able to defend themselves.
The farm employs four women who brave these giants reptiles to clean their ponds and collect eggs for incubation.
The crocodiles are chased from their nests by hitting them on sensitive parts such as the nose, eggs are incubated for three months before hatching.
One of the employees, Angelina France, said the farmed crocodiles feed on donkey or cow meat cut into chunks which they swallow because they do not have a tongue.
A hungry young croc may need three chicken and this we supplement by feeding them with mince meat, she said.
Though the crocodiles are kept in fenced ponds, they do not lose their wild behaviour: They still snap those bone breaking jaws when one get near them, a sign that they are ready to pounce.
The farm was famous for its 100 year-old crocodile named Nelson, which died last July.
Nelson bore most of crocs in the farm and was a giant reptile measuring over five meters though he lost a tail at a young age, Slogrove said.
Eat as much as you weigh, thats what crocs do