Thursday, April 12, 2007

"Let's do lunch" takes on a different meaning when there's a crocodile around.


For those who are considering getting a crocodile as a pet, you might want to read this.
A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound Nile crocodile, an official said. The crocodile severed Chang Po-yu's forearm on Wednesday at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung when the veterinarian tried to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's hide, zoo officials said.
Severed it. Bit it right off. Now, being a natural born coward when it comes to 440-pound sharp-toothed reptiles, I would have been poking that critter with a length of stick long before I ever stuck my arm in the cage. The report didn't say where the tranquilizer dart was on the crocodile's hide, but get this part.
As Chang was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, a zoo worker shot two bullets at the crocodile's neck to retrieve the forearm, said Chen Po-tsun, a zoo official. "The crocodile was unharmed as we didn't find any bullet holes on its hide," Chen said. "It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb."
So... what are the odds the tranquilizer dart was ineffective? Bullets seemed to ricochet off this beast. And I wasn't joking about the "pet" part.
Chen said the zoo purchased the crocodile from a local resident who had kept it as a pet.
Perhaps the owner decided to give up the thing rather than take it to a crocodile obedience school.

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