Is Ethiopia to blame for Nile crocodiles appearing in Khartoum?
Officials in Sudan are advising citizens to avoid the Nile River because of crocodiles — which some are blaming on Ethiopia’s second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
CAIRO — A state of anticipation prevails in Egypt, after the appearance of the Nile crocodiles in Khartoum. Meanwhile, officials in Sudan have warned citizens against getting close to the Nile River after the completion of the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in the absence of an agreement with the downstream countries — Egypt and Sudan.
In a July 30 press statement, director of the Civil Defense Department in Khartoum, Maj. Gen. Othman al-Atta, warned citizens against getting close to the Nile or swimming in it, as the country is witnessing major floods, leading to a rise in the Nile water levels and causing the emergence of predatory Nile crocodiles and snakes. Atta also advised against using Nile boats.
The situation in Sudan has raised concerns among Egyptians who are worried the situation would spill over to their country. Egyptian newspaper El-Watan reported Aug. 1 that citizens had witnessed a crocodile emerging from the water in the village of Zefta in Gharbia governorate, in northern Egypt. The crocodile crawled on the asphalt for a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) before returning to the water. The incident stirred panic among the villagers. But the undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Adel Abdel Qadir, denied the presence of crocodiles in this area.
Observers and experts who spoke to Al-Monitor said that the Nile crocodiles are not the only negative environmental impact of the GERD. Other effects, such as soil salinity and the disappearance of some animals and plants, are a result of the environmental changes caused by the dam.
