DNA TESTS PERFORMED on the carcass of two crocodiles shot dead in Zimbabwe have confirmed that they contains the remains of a missing hunter.
An investigator told the BBC that within the crocodiles were the remains of missing South African Scott Van Zyl.
Van Zyl disappeared while on a hunting safari last week, and investigator Sakkie Louwrens said that he was killed on the banks of the Limpopo river in southern Zimbabwe.
Louwrens, who is the director of South African NGO The Heritage Protection Group, said Van Zyl had gone on a hunting trip on the border between the two countries with a local tracker and a pack of dogs.
Van Zyl and the tracker went off in different directions in search of crocodiles, and the alarm was raised when the dogs returned to their camp without him.
He was traced to the river bank, where his discarded rucksack was found.
Louwrens said: “Permission was given for three Nile crocodiles in the area to be shot, and one of them contained Mr Van Zyl’s remains.
Subsequent DNA tests have proved the remains to be those of Mr Van Zyl.
The hunter was married, and had two children.
The deaths of four people were linked to attacks by crocodiles in Zimbabwe in the past year.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say