Sometimes it just isnt worth it

[ufcrusher]

Crocodile kills humanitarian professor
Renowned med school teacher went to Africa to help fight AIDS

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A professor at the University of Washington Medical School who moved to Botswana to help alleviate a shortage of doctors there, was killed when a crocodile dragged him from a dugout canoe, his family and colleagues said.

Richard K. Root, 68, was on a wildlife tour of the Limpopo River in remote northeastern Botswana with his wife, Rita O'Boyle, on Sunday when it happened. The couple had been visiting a clinic in the area.

A nationally known expert in infectious disease and the former chief of medicine at Harborview Medical Center here, Root went to the African nation to train health care workers to deal with AIDS. Botswana's rate of HIV infection is about 40 percent.

The move and his marriage last year had given him a new purpose in life after some difficult years, which included having bypass surgery, suffering with depression and caring for his previous wife until she died in 2001 of a neuromuscular disorder.

Root's son David Root, a Seattle architect, said he had spoken with his father on Saturday, and that he was happy about his work at Botswana's Princess Marina Hospital in the capital city of Gaborone.

"Dad had gone through hell and had to take stock of his life," Root told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Another son, Richard Root of Los Angeles, said his father, who had worked as a doctor in Iran in the 1970s, now wanted to dedicate himself to helping Africa.

Root taught at Penn in the early 1970s before moving on to Yale and then, in 1982, to Seattle. He first served as chief of medicine at the Veterans Administration Hospital, then took over the same position at Harborview in 1991.

He was former president of the American Federation of Clinical Research; editor in chief of a textbook, "Clinical Infectious Diseases"; and, from 1986 to 1991, he directed the National Institutes of Health's AIDS Advisory Committee.

Steve Gluckman, medical director of the Botswana program, said Root was in a lead dugout with the tour guides when the crocodile rose out of the water and grabbed him. He was not seen again. The tour guides were wary of hippos, but there had been no reports of crocodile attacks in the area.

Survivors include sons Richard, a college and high school teacher in Los Angeles; David, a Seattle architect; and Daniel, a Seattle physician. Root also had eight grandchildren.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa....ap/index.html

Hope they catch the croc. That truly sucks...he fights through a series of difficulties only to get back on track to be eaten by a freaking croc!

[Ladogaboy]

It sounds like he had a full life and died while doing something he enjoyed... something that mattered. He died a natural death; I see no grief in it.

Just out of curiosity, what do you feel should be done? Kill a crocodile that was simply following its nature? Maybe we can get a few dozen pair of boots out of the deal.

[ufcrusher]

Humans are not natural food for Nile Crocodiles. Generally, if they attack humans they are either sick/injured or there is something else wrong with their environment. For example, 15ft blind gator started going after cats, dogs, and golfers because it couldnt compete for tis natural food items.

As such, there is a high likelihood that the croc will go after another human and it should be put down.

[welfareloser]

good lord. how random.

[Jeffbx]

How sad, but he died in the line of duty, so to speak. His family & colleagues should be proud of his accomplishments.

[Freelance Superhero]

It sounds like he had a full life and died while doing something he enjoyed... something that mattered. He died a natural death; I see no grief in it.

Just out of curiosity, what do you feel should be done? Kill a crocodile that was simply following its nature? Maybe we can get a few dozen pair of boots out of the deal.

it is sad, however, that he only got remarried last year. his widow, poor woman...

[nickel]

no good deed goes unpunished really played out BIG TIME there.

[Ladogaboy]

Humans are not natural food for Nile Crocodiles. Generally, if they attack humans they are either sick/injured or there is something else wrong with their environment. For example, 15ft blind gator started going after cats, dogs, and golfers because it couldnt compete for tis natural food items.

As such, there is a high likelihood that the croc will go after another human and it should be put down.

You must be very sheltered, but then again, so are most people these days. No predatory/carnivorous animal will pass on a chance at protein unless there is a high likelihood that it will get hurt in the process. True, if an animal realizes that humans are an easy source of food, people may become a staple of that animal's diet, but what else should one expect when traveling in less developed areas?

[ufcrusher]

You must be very sheltered, but then again, so are most people these days. No predatory/carnivorous animal will pass on a chance at protein unless there is a high likelihood that it will get hurt in the process. True, if an animal realizes that humans are an easy source of food, people may become a staple of that animal's diet, but what else should one expect when traveling in less developed areas?

Dont know where you are getting that idea. There have been numerous scientific studies completed regarding animals taking humans as prey. With very few exceptions, a healthy animal will not take humans as prey.

Some exceptions:
Saltwater crocodiles - most aggressive of all crocs will actively stalk and eat humans. Niles will also take humans, but not as often, mostly when food is scarce.

Tigers of the Sundarbans - although the research seems to indicate that between 1800 and 1911, tigers all over the Indian continent were maneaters. They theorize that since man eaters were/are routinely killed everywhere except the Sundarbans, the tigers have learned not to associate humans with food. There is another competing theory that due to the floods in the Sundarbans and the number of dead that wash down the rivers there, the tigers are used to eating corpses/humans.

Lions - Man eaters from Tsavo - which was the basis of the story "The Ghost in the Darkness" = these were true man eaters which routinely hunting only humans.

Obviously, people think Great White sharks, but that is mostly a mistaken identy. Bull sharks are more likely culprit as are tiger sharks.

Bears - generally only attack when defending cubs or during mating season, its the reason why you make noise in the forest.

Wolves - I dont recall the last instance of a wild wolf attack.

Alligators - usually only when had been hand fed and associating humans with food. Big Tom, a 12 ft gator in the loxachatee preserve of Johnaton Dickison state park, was constantly fed by humans. He ended up taking a child and eating it. His skull is now on display.
http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/...r-attacks.html

So I dont see why you think its a normal occurrence or I am sheltered. I have spent LOTS of time in the great outdoors.

[redcolours]

does this mean i have to send my 9foot long pet croc to the sewers? ive had him for 8 years now.
i dont think he'd flush down the toilet well...