I SAW GOLD IN CROCS, WENT FOR IT

Mildred Parker with an employee on her crocodile farm. She established the farm five years ago to assist in crocodile conservation as she harvests the animals’ hide and skin for sale. PHOTO | CHARLES LWANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By CHARLES LWANGA

On the outskirts of the resort town of Malindi at Kakoneni lies one of the country’s most ambitious farms.

This farm does not host cows or goats or pineapples, but crocodiles in a multimillion business that stretches beyond the borders.

Kazuri London Crocodile Farm is a Sh150 million establishment and according to owner Mildred Parker, a Briton, she established it five years ago to assist in crocodile conservation as she harvests the animals’ hide and skin for sale.

“These crocodiles are like my cows. I breed them and harvest their skin for export to Italy where it is used to make luxurious handbags that go for Sh3.2 million each (£30,000),” she says.

On the four acres located off the Malindi-Sala Gate Road are artificial incubators and pens hosting tens of tiny crocodiles at various stages of growth.

Also present is a dam surrounded by a barbed wire containing mature crocodiles which she uses for breeding.

At one of the pens, Seeds of Gold team finds Loice Pendo and Riziki Chea monitoring and feeding the six months old hatchlings.

Parker says she has separated her 5,000 Nile crocodiles into four groups namely hatchlings, yearlings, juveniles and breeders.

“Once the eggs hatch, we take the hatchlings into a separate pen for good care. Sorting is done every two months to identify fast growers, which are transferred to a bigger pen,” she explains.

Just like other animals, crocodiles are aggressive and tend to fight each other during feeding, leading to unequal growth rate.

GLOBAL FASHION BUSINESS

“We feed the hatchlings on minced meat from fish, chicken or beef. After a year, we normally transfer them to a single pen where there is more water and space for basking,” says Parker, adding she buys goats, cows and chickens from the locals to feed the animals and has employed 12 full-time employees and about 50 to 100 casual laborers.

The crocodile pens are cleaned every day and disinfected to curb diseases like coccidiosis.

“We collect eggs from Tana River to boost our stocks because the breeders do not produce enough as required to maintain profit. We do the exercise between December and February with the help of wildlife conservationists and trained locals. The eggs are marked for incubation,” explains manager Patrick Anguba.

Morning and evening hours are the best time for egg collection to avoid direct sunlight which affects the embryonic development leading to spoilt eggs or malformed hatchlings.

“We incubate the eggs on the farm and they hatch after three months. The incubator is properly sealed and sprayed with chemicals to keep off monitor lizards and snakes which prey on the eggs,” he says.

Parker with her employees check on one of her farm's crocodiles. Crocodiles mature after three years, after which the skin is harvested. PHOTO | CHARLES LWANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Crocodiles mature after three years, after which the skin is harvested. The harvesting starts with killing the animals, which is done by shooting on the head using a gun.

“The method ensures there is minimal stress after which skinning follows. The best hide size for production of quality handbags should average 30 to 35cm at the belly. I donate the animals’ meat to a charity organisation in the US, which sells and uses the money for their activities in Africa,” says Parker, who stays in London but travels to Kenya regularly to check on her enterprise.

Parker, who is a trained journalist, says she ventured into crocodile farming to follow her passionate in the global fashion business.

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After slaughtering, tanning is done in Kenya and then the skin is exported to Italy for further processing.

“My interest in the industry started some 15 years ago, making me buy ostrich skin to make handbags for sell. I then thought of getting expensive hide for my business which brought me to Africa. I started by buying crocodile skin from Mamba village in Mombasa,” she recounts, adding she bought the farm, sought a Kenya Wildlife Service licence that goes for Sh1,500s and established the farm in 2012.

She recently opened a slaughter on the farm as she seeks to expand the business.

Challenges include unskilled labour, difficulty in acquiring government permits and rivalry among crocodile farms for market.

Malindi Marine Park Senior Warden Jane Gitau says crocodiles are among the wild animals that are increasingly being domesticated for meat, skin and eggs after ostriches, guinea fowls and quails.

“It is a new business that is growing fast, but one must apply for a licence to keep wild animals and birds and work with us on safety issues because even if they are domesticated, the animals remain wild.”

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Know it fast

Getting the best from the crocodile skin

• Crocodile skin is sold according to the belly width. The international market price for first grade skin of an animal which is five years old and about 190cm long goes for up $150.
• The skin should be unblemished and high quality to get its full value, which reduces by 25 per cent if there is any blemish.
• The business is much regulated both locally and abroad as exports have to be traced from the source.
• During culling of the animals for meat and skin, another licence will issued after the export market is disclosed.

 SOURCE: NMG/SEEDSOFGOLD