Lubango – Several wild animals have been invading residential areas in the municipality of Lubango, province of Huíla and, out of ignorance, the inhabitants are slaughtering them, a practice that the authorities are trying to stop, as it constitutes an environmental crime.
Records from the last six months point to the appearance, in the commune of Arimba, of a serval, which was mistaken for a leopard, frightening the inhabitants of the area, who wanted to kill it, but were stopped by the authorities, who informed them that it was a a harmless feline.
Days later, the animal was located, with its offspring, and returned to the wild.
However, the endings have not always been happy. This week, a Varanus-type creature, similar to a dragon, was shot down by security guards, at the request of residents of the Finance condominium, in the same commune.
The area is surrounded by the perimeter of Mukanka International Airport, which has a protected forest of more than 60 square kilometers, where several species live, but the expansion of the city into the area, through condominiums, puts these animals closer to humans.
Speaking to ANGOP, this Wednesday, the provincial director of Environment, Waste Management and Community Services, Tânia dos Santos, said that this animal is characteristic of wetter areas.
The director said that with the change to the dry season “it is normal” that they begin to appear, especially reptiles used to humidity.
She appealed to communities to report to the competent authorities if they come across these animals, instead of slaughtering them, as many are protected species and at risk of extinction.
The environmentalist justified that this behavior results from “habitat conflicts”, because Man “invaded” hers and confined her to a new one, so, due to the climatic conditions, she had to look for a new wetland and went to stay there. , given that the soil starts to get drier in the previous one.
“The first way to act is to ask the population not to kill the animal, under penalty of killing a species at risk of extinction. Therefore, we work on environmental education, so that when they see the animal they report it to the firefighters, or the Environment Office, in order to rescue it and return it to its habitat safely”, she warned.
In the case of felines or medium-sized animals, the director said that her Office has the support of the Lubango Science and Technology Center, which helps with tramp cameras, which are placed in places where the population says they have seen the animals, to monitor them.
According to the environmentalist, most of these animals are not invading residential areas, on the contrary, the cities have invaded their habitat, which is why these occurrences will increase, which is why the population must be prepared to deal with it.
He said there has been a record of the appearance of small felines, harmless to humans, and reptiles, some of which can cause injury or death to other animals and people, so humans should avoid approaching them.
History of the slaughtered animal
The slaughtered animal, also called a monitor lizard, belongs to the species of large lizards of the genus Varanus, native to Africa, Asia and Oceania, and is also found in the Americas, as an invader. Close to 80 species are recognized worldwide.
Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The adult length of extant species ranges from 20 centimeters in some of them to more than three meters in the case of the Komodo dragon, although the extinct varanid known as megalania (Varanus priscus) may have been capable of reaching lengths exceeding seven meters.
Most monitor species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semi-aquatic monitors are also known. Most of them are carnivores, eating eggs, smaller reptiles, fish, birds, insects and small mammals. Some also feed on fruits and vegetation, depending on where they live. MS/DOJ
