The iguana that was caught by residents of Phase 6 on Thursday and handed over to the SPCA, was handed over to Destea for further evaluation and to be released in a safe area.

A large group of community members and children feared for their lives on Thursday afternoon (28/3) after someone caught what they described as a “baby crocodile” in Phase 6.

The reptile was caught while moving from yard to yard after it was spotted the previous afternoon in a yard with its owner. When OFM News arrived, community members had gathered at the spot where the “crocodile” was captured, awaiting the SPCA.

“The case has been handed over to nature conservation by the SPCA, because in such cases what they normally do is to go to the people keeping these wild animals and issue them with a warning,” said Bloemfontein SPCA inspector Lucky Oliphant.

“On Wednesday evening, I saw my neighbour who is the owner of the ‘crocodile’ trying to trap and catch it with a broom, he lifted it with both hands and threw it inside a shack in his yard and placed a big stone to block the door,” said Mamohlabi Hemida.

Hemida said she immediately called Bloemspruit police station but they told her they don’t deal with such cases and referred her to the SPCA, who eventually came and spoke to the owner of the animal. He said it was “just a lizard”, but she claimed she has seen a far larger reptile.

“They told me they couldn’t go into the shack because it was filled with garden equipment and it was starting to get dark. They promised to come the next day, which was on Thursday, when they arrived after a community member had restrained the ‘baby crocodile’,” she said

The SPCA promised Hemida to come and search the shack of her neighbour to check if there isn’t a bigger one as she alleged, but they’d not yet returned by Friday afternoon.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame cg