How this man caught a 15ft child-killing crocodile called GADDAFI and managed to escape being lynched by the even scarier locals

Wildlife expert Pete Prodromou with Gaddafi, the 15ft long crocodile which weighed about a tonne

I flew out from the UK with a blow-up doll in my bag – to use as bait for a killer croc, I hasten to add. You won’t have seen me catch many man-eaters on Channel 4’s Paul O’Grady show, where I did a regular wildlife slot as ‘Safari Pete’. But I do know a bit about how to look after them. So when a giant crocodile killed a 15-year-old boy on Christmas Day in the village of Katwe, near Lake Edward in Uganda, I was asked to join the official hunt.

Pete prepares a potent bait with expert trapper Peter Ogwang

It was only after landing at Entebbe airport that I truly understood the situation. For a start, there would be no time for crazy experiments with sex toys. We would have to work quickly and decisively, as my friend Julius Abigaba explained when he met me from the flight. The idea was to remove the crocodile to a zoo or reservation.
But the villagers were fearful and enraged. The last time rangers tried to catch a croc there, the Katwe locals overpowered them, took the beast and chopped it up alive.

Pete checking the sex of a salt water crocodile in Malaysia

Some villagers even drank its blood because they believed it would cure HIV. Others consumed the meat to avenge the lives of the dead. Julius, who works for the Uganda Wildlife Education Team (UWEC), knows what he is talking about. So much for my fears about smuggling the doll through customs.
It was Day One of our quest, so he drove me to my ‘banda’ – a typical thatched hut – in Entebbe Zoo, where we could discuss our plans for the days ahead.

Pete also works for a company where he takes animals around to childrens in school

Day Two: I woke up late, covered in swollen mosquito bites. Luckily I travel with my own hydrocortisone injection kit to reduce the swelling. I couldn’t find a doctor, so I persuaded the zoo vet, Dr Noel, to administer an injection into my bottom. Red faces all round.
I then hopped on the boda-boda I kept at the zoo (this is a motorbike with a special seat on the back, normally used as a local taxi) and drove off to pick up some pork for a barbecue. On the way back I got a call from Dr Noel to say they had rescued a Gaboon viper, a venomous snake with big fangs, from one of the villages. What a treat it was to get close up to such a rare beast.


Pete hopes to work with the Ugandan authorities in the future

Day 12: We got back to Entebbe Zoo in the early hours of the morning, jubilant that we had caught one of the large crocs we had encountered. But we know there is at least one more 15ft crocodile out there. Which one had killed Joshua? I honestly don’t know.
I am now trying to work with the Ugandan authorities to set up a long-term solution to the toll the crocodiles are taking on the local people. One possibility is building barriers at the lakes to stop children swimming near them. We must also teach them about the dangers.
If the villagers could learn to live alongside the crocodiles, then my job would be done. But that will take some time yet. Until then, sadly, there will be more terrible deaths along the way.

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source: dailymail