Johannesburg - The mystery of the dead buffalo found on Cedar Road, Fourways, last week continues.
How could the young buffalo cow have roamed an urban street for a week before it died without anybody seeing it?
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed that the animal was reported missing by its owner two weeks ago, after it escaped from a nearby farm, before its carcass was discovered and then disposed of by incineration.
The mystery deepened this week when the department said it could not disclose which farm the buffalo was from or the name of the owner, even though the animal was neither tagged nor branded to show who it belonged to.
Andile Gumede, a spokesman for the department, collected a sample from the animal because buffaloes, like any other animal, can have a number of diseases, some of which can infect humans.
“The department has no reason to believe that (the presence of a disease) is the case in this buffalo.”
He said there was no need for the department to open a case against the unidentified owner of the animal.
The buffalo was lying on the side of the road when Andrew McLean, a SuperSport presenter and professional cyclist, was cycling at 60km/h downhill. He tried to manoeuvre his bike over the dead animal, but crashed into the carcass, breaking his hand and fracturing a joint in his shoulder.
McLean was riding with Mark Warren and Mark Cheyne at about 5am last Wednesday. They escaped with a few grazes, but their bicycles were wrecked.
McLean was taken to hospital, and the carcass stayed on the scene until about 9am.
It was collected by wildlife conservation officers four hours later with the help of the Randburg SPCA, after someone had cut off the tail.
The Star