The world according to me

Another article I did for The Ghanaian Times. It is this cool kind of big-game-adventure-hero article, kind of Hemingway style. Okay, I did it it from a rather safe place and the crocodile was stuffed with chickens anyway. But I mean Hemingway shot himself, so I might just take it a bit easier.

The Ghanaian Times' people would probably have chose an exciting headline such as

Conservation project for new Crocodile Species

so I have to pick something a bit more sexy like

Meet the Reptile Redeemer or A day with the Alligator Angel

The crocodile was about two and a half meters long, and even though the man wasn’t of small built it easily outstripped him. By the time he had sneaked up from behind, we had all stepped back from the scene.

The massive reptile was kept from plunging back into the muddy pool by an iron wire slung around its broad neck. It had been fighting hard, but seemed exhausted by now. A young local was holding on to the cable looking half scared, half proud of his bravery. His force kept the reptile from escaping, but if it would change its mind and charge instead of retreating, the young man would be in for a hard time. None of the two seemed aware of this possibility.

The noises of the fight had attracted a small crowd. While man and crocodile had fought, they were busy commenting and arguing whether it was reasonable or outright lunatic to try to catch a crocodile alive. With time passing both crocodile and crowd had grown tired of the spectacle and now, as the hunter was standing right behind the big animal, silence was surrounding the scene.

Was he waiting for a special moment or just fighting his own doubts? After a long moment of silence he leaped forward and landed on the back of the big reptile. His weighed nailed it down to the ground; his big hands holding its mouth shut. There was no fight. The crocodile seemed as surprised as the crowd. It looked ridiculously simple, just like catching chicken in the backyard.

“It isn’t”, Matthew told me later. “If you don’t know exactly what you are doing, it can be very dangerous, both for you and for the crocodile.” Matthew Shirley knew what he was talking about. The young crocodile biologist had been in Ghana since June catching dozens of crocodiles. He wasn’t in for the meat or the thrill, though. Even if it was a good show, this was serious science.

Matthew came to Ghana to discover a new species of crocodiles. Africa is known to host three species of crocodiles, the most famous and the most feared among them being the Nile crocodile. Current knowledge has it that the Nile croc can be found in East, South and West Africa. But Matthew believes that what in Ghana is commonly referred to as the Nile crocodiles is in fact something altogether different.

The men-eater, as the Nile crocodile is sometimes called, is said to grow up to a size of six meters and to cause a higher death toll among humans than all other crocodile species combined. Ghanaian ‘Nile crocodiles’, in turn, don’t exceed 3.5 meters and rarely ever kill humans. “Even if they look quite similar to Nile Crocodiles in Eastern and Southern Africa, they are smaller, less aggressive and they live in a totally different habitat”, he told me.

It was for this reason that he was going all over Ghana and parts of La Côte d’Ivoire looking for wild crocodiles and taking blood samples. He is convinced that once scientists would have gathered enough probes, they would be able to analyze the DNA and show that Ghana and parts of West Africa were actually host to a species of reptiles do far unknown.

Unfortunately, this species would be endangered right from the start of its official life. Natural habitats all over West Africa are vanishing due to increasing human settlements, pollution and over fishing, Matthew says. “As we speak, crocodiles have come extinct in many places. But while scientists are sure that West and Central Africa are the priority areas in the world for crocodile conservation action, it is Ghana and parts of Cote d’Ivoire that still have a population worth speaking of”, he said.

Matthew’s believes that if there is a way to preserve this new species, it must be done in Ghana. “The people here are in a unique position to ensure the future of crocodiles because of their well established conservation ethic and protected areas network. Ghana will be a major player in this conservation movement in the coming years. And so far, the people from the Ghana Wildlife Division and the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources at KNUST are very excited and supportive of that, and should be commended for helping to initiate this important first step.”

In the beginning of his research project, he had just intended to go out for crocodiles. But when he saw that in traditional crocodile breeding grounds like the Digya National Park along Lake Volta crocodiles were virtually extinct, he also started some conservation exercises.

In order to train future zoologists capable of studying and preserving Ghana’s shrinking croc population, he initiated various training workshops at the Universities of Ghana in Legon and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi for future Ghanaian croc biologists showing them on how to catch, handle and protect the ancient creatures and prevent their extinction.

Ghanaians, he said, had to understand that crocodiles presented a huge opportunity. For one, tourists were attracted by the prospect of seeing them in the wild. On the other hand, crocodile farms would represent an interesting business venture. Crocodile leather could be used for all kinds of luxury goods like handbags, shoes or expensive briefcases. Their flesh was nutritious and could be sold at high prices.

“Currently, biologists at KNUST are trying to build up a croc farm at the outskirts of Kumasi. The place could be valuable for scientists, too. You can study them easily, train young biologists on how to handle them and even breed young ones to be released in their original habitats”, Matthew told me.

The crocodile Matthew had caught when I fist met him at Hans Cottage in Cape Coast, was a living proof for his vision of humans and crocodiles peacefully sharing a habitat. After the initial shock of being captured and robed of some of its blood, it slipped back into the huge man made pool and was being seen sunbathing a few hours later - very much to the delight of the tourists who had come all the way from Cape Coast to see one of Ghana’s most fascinating animals, alive.