BONFIRE OF THE CROCS.Byline: By MIKE SWAIN Michael ("Mike") Lee Swain (born December 21, 1960 in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is one of the most successful American judokas. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984. , Science Editor WILDLIFE rangers light a huge bonfire piled with dead crocodiles to try to halt the spread of a disease that is threatening a whole colony. More than 150 crocs have died in three months in an epidemic that is puzzling scientists. It is feared the infection is spreading because healthy animals are eating the dead ones. So all the carcasses are being torched at Olifants Gorge in Kruger Park, South Africa. It is known they are dying of pansteatitis from a lack of vitamin E vitamin E or tocopherol Fat-soluble organic compound found principally in certain plant oils and leaves of green vegetables. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant in body tissues and may prolong life by slowing oxidative destruction of membranes. . The usual cause is rotten fish - but there have been no unusual reports of dead fish in the Olifants or Letaba rivers, home to many Nile crocodiles. Pollution has not been ruled out but South Africa's environment minister Marthinus van S chalkwy told parliament the outbreak is thought to have started when the crocs ate fishermen's rotten catch after it was dumped. He said: "The burning will continue for the forseeable future." 70YRS HOW LONG CROCS USUALLY LIVE FOR IN THE WILD. MANY EXCEED 100. ONE IN A RUSSIAN ZOO LIVED TO BE 115. CAPTION(S): INFERNO Crocs burning in Kruger National Park Kruger National Park, game reserve, c.8,000 sq mi (20,720 sq km), Limpopo and Mpumalanga, NE South Africa. One of the world's largest wildlife sanctuaries, it has almost every species of game found in southern Africa. Pictures: BIG PICTURES; BONFIRE Dead crocs in South Africa |
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