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Richard Muponde, Gwanda Correspondent
A SOUTH African professional hunter is feared to have been devoured by crocodiles in Chikwalakwala area of Beitbridge after he went missing last week during a hunting expedition.

His backpack was recovered on the banks of the Limpopo River.

Mr Scott van Zyl (44) had gone on a hunting safari with his pack of dogs and a Zimbabwean tracker.

Mr Van Zyl owns the SS Pro Safaris company in the neighbouring country that takes foreign clients on hunting trips.

Reports from the area are that he and his tracker left the pickup they were in and walked into the bush in different directions.

However, later in the day his dogs returned to the camp without him.

The tracker tried to search for him without success and raised alarm leading a search team from Zimbabwe and South Africa to be dispatched to the area but he was not found.

Helicopters, trackers and divers scoured the area while search and rescue teams distributed pamphlets with Mr Van Zyl’s image on them in villages and to fishermen on the banks of the river.

Mr van Zyl’s footprints were later spotted leading to the banks of the river. Trackers then found his backpack nearby.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson yesterday confirmed receiving a report of a missing person.

“I can confirm that we received a report of a missing South African hunter on the Zimbabwean side in Chikwalakwala area. A search has been made but he not been found but his belongings were found on the banks of the Limpopo River. However, I can’t confirm that he was killed by crocodiles as we have not received such information as yet,” he said.

The British Telegraph newspaper quoted Mr Sakkie Louwrens, who was involved in the search, saying police and nature conservation services had decided to shoot two Nile crocodiles in the area after suspecting that they may have been responsible for Mr van Zyl’s disappearance.

“We found what could possibly be human remains in them,” he said.

The paper said forensic experts are currently testing whether the remains belong to Mr van Zyl, who has a wife and two children.

At least four people have been killed by crocodiles in the past month after heavy rains caused the reptiles to move away from rivers.

One of the latest victims is an 11-year-old boy, Mphathi Ndlovu, who was killed by a crocodile while he was swimming in the Kana River with two friends.

Villagers from Jotsholo village in Matabeleland North tracked down the crocodile and killed it with machetes before skinning it and recovering some of the boy’s body parts.

— @richardmuponde