The Sun has reported that gigantic South African rats are being blamed for a series of predatory attacks on children, resulting in the tragic deaths of two infants.
Eyewitnesses claim that the monster rodents are as big as cats — up to 3-feet in length including their tails — and are believed to have teeth over an inch long. These ferocious beasts are said to be responsible for numerous attacks on children in one of slums surrounding South Africa’s larger cities.
Sadly, it was reported that 3 year-old Lunathi Dwadwa was killed as she slept in her parent’s shack — which is made of breeze block and corrugated iron — near Cape town. Her distraught mother, Bukiswa Dwadwa, discovered her lifeless body and claimed that the rats had mutilated their child. Her father, Mncedisi Mokoena, said police informed him that:
“Nothing could have done that but rats.”
The same day police revealed the second baby girl died in the Soweto township when she was attacked by rats while her teenage mother was out with friends.Police officer Bongani Mhlongo said:
“We were called to the scene of the death of an infant due to a rat attack on Monday morning at around 9:00 am.The mother of the child was arrested on charges of culpable homicide and negligence.”
The deaths appear to be part of a spate of deadly rat attacks in the country. Last month, 77-year-old grandmother Nomathemba Joyi died after giant rats ate a portion of her face.
While authorities are not sure what kind of creature is specifically responsible for these attacks, they have speculated that the killer rodents are likely African Giant Pouched Rats; a species of native to sub-Saharan Africa. These rats are huge, nocturnal, omnivorous — eating both plants and animals — and can produce up to 50 young a year.
