A popular mural shows a man in a situational dilemma: The man hangs from a branch over a river seemingly escaping a striking snake; at the same time a crocodile lies in wait in the water and a lion on dry land.
It is at once a riddle and a symbolic representation of the struggles of life, but what are the chances of it being re-enacted in real life? Well, for one fisherman in Zambia, the riddle became a reality when he met a tragic death, killed by a crocodile in a river while fleeing from elephants on land.
The victim who has been identified as Dean Nyirenda, 52, was returning from a fishing trip with his two friends on Wednesday, when suddenly they encountered a herd of elephants.
The BBC reported that according to the local police chief, Robertson Mweemba, as the fishermen all desperately sprinted away from the elephants to safety, Nyirenda opted to dive into a nearby river, only to be attacked by a lurking crocodile.
Nyirenda put on a fight, striking the crocodile with a stick, and dragging himself from the water as his friends ran to his aid. They carried him from the riverbank bleeding profusely, their efforts to stop Nyirenda’s bleeding bore no fruit, as he succumbed to the grave injury.
According to BBC, the tragedy occurred in eastern Zambia’s region of Mambwe district, close to the South Luangwa National Park, which is a biodiversity habitat that hosts elephants and crocodiles.
Zambia enjoys one of Africa’s largest elephant populations, leading to frequent human-wildlife conflicts that unfortunately claim lives every year.
The Luangwa River, flowing through the park, is home to one of Africa’s highest population of Nile crocodiles, known for their extremely aggressive nature.
In 2023 alone, Zambia allegedly recorded 26 wildlife-related deaths, with 15 attributed to crocodile attacks, most along the Luangwa, according to conservation group Resource Africa.
The conservation group, further highlights how expanding human activities usually encroach on some wild animals’ habitats, thus escalating dangers for locals like fishermen who mainly depend on rivers for their daily livelihood.
Authorities have urged carefulness in wildlife zones, calling on locals and tourists to exercise utmost extreme caution most especially when travelling through the country’s wildlife hotspots.
Wildlife authorities now says that they have been considering measures to reduce the human-animal conflicts, including building protective fences near wildlife areas to prevent and/or reduce further unnecessary fatalities.