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S. African tourists meet deadly predators
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E-mail CNTV, March 13, 2012
In South Africa, the "shark cage diving" industry has long been a popular and lucrative tourist attraction. Now a small town in the middle of the country's desolate Karoo region has come up with a novel way to use the very same cages, allowing visitors to get "up close and personal" with another tooth-filled predator.
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S. African tourists meet deadly predators. |
In the small rural town of Oudtshoorn, situated in South Africa's Karoo region, a wildlife facility has come up with a novel way to attract visitors by giving them a chance to get up close and personal with one of Africa's deadliest creatures.
It's called Crocodile Cage diving and it's the first of its kind in the world, giving those who dare the opportunity to dive with dangerous Nile crocodiles within the safety of a cage, normally reserved for White Shark Cage diving operators.
Unlike the White Shark Dives available along South Africa's coastline, which is a key tourism draw card for the region. Crocodile Cage diving takes place in the middle of a semi desert region and unlike the Great White Sharks, Crocodiles do seem to see humans as prey.
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S. African tourists meet deadly predators. |
This makes diving with these ancient predators, an unusual but novel way of sending out a conservational message by exposing them to the animal in its natural environment.
The cage is essentially a modernized version of the ones used in the shark diving industry with reinforced steel used to counter the powerful bite force of the crocodiles. They claim that most people find the Crocodile Cage Diving experience to be a much more intimate look at one of Africa's top predators than Shark Cage Diving, an in-turn far scarier.
Visitors brave enough to dive with the crocodile, say it is an adrenalin filled adventure and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Crocodile cage diving has become such a popular activity in the town that visitors from around the world, claim that Crocodiles may just be the new poster child of wildlife eco-tourism in South Africa.
Reporter: "Crocodile cage diving may seem like another adrenaline filled adventure for those who dare but wildlife experts here say that the main motivation behind the cage diving experience is to inform the public through interactive conservation."
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