Crocodile kills wildlife hunter in Zimbabwe

DNA tests confirms remains inside a crocodile carcass were of Scott Van Zyl

Remains of a missing South African wildlife hunter were found inside the carcass of a crocodile shot in Zimbabwe, the BBC reported.

Scott Van Zyl went missing last week during a hunting safari. After his dogs returned to the camp without him, a search and rescue operation was launched which traced the hunter's footprints to a river bank alongside his discarded rucksack.

Zimbabwean authorities, with the help of Heritage Protection Group's staff conducted the search.

The NGO's director, Sakkie Louwrens, told BBC that Van Zyl was on a hunting trip with a local tracker and a pack of dogs on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. The duo went in different directions, searching for crocodiles, leaving their vehicle behind, he added.

According to Louwrence, "permission was given for three Nile crocodiles in the area to be shot." He said one of the crocodiles "contained Van Zyl's remains".

"Subsequent DNA tests have proved the remains to be those of Van Zyl," he said.

Meanwhile, One Green Planet condemned the circumstances leading to the hunter's death.

In a statement, the conservation group said: "[He] shouldn't have been hunting in the first place. Animals in the wild… are wild! They are living, thinking beings with instincts for survival."

At least four attacks by crocodiles have resulted in fatalities in Zimbabwe this year alone.