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Found via Arbroath - does anyone know where this was from?
Elvis the crocodile lives at Australian Reptile Park near Sydney. He did not appreciate the noisy lawnmower that was invading his territory, so he captured it and pulled it into his underwater home. Elvis stood guard over his catch until park staff could lure him away with kangaroo meat. When they recovered the mower, two of Elvis’ teeth were still embedded in the engine casing from the attack! Link -via Arbroath
What’s so cute about a crocodile? Their babies! Believe it or not, mother crocodiles are caring and nurturing to their young, despite belonging to an ancient group of reptiles. Baby crocs even “talk” to their mothers before they hatch! Find out how at Environmental Graffiti. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Drew McLellan)
Around 100 villagers in the Philippines worked together Sunday to bind and retrieve a monstrous 6 meter long crocodile that has been terrorizing the community for months. The crocodile is an endangered species, and will be relocated to an ecotourism park.
The crocodile — weighing 2,370 pounds (1,075 kilograms) and estimated to be at least 50 years old — is the biggest caught alive in the Philippines in recent years. Wildlife officials were trying to confirm whether it was the largest such catch in the world, said Theresa Mundita Lim of the government’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau.
It was captured alive after a three-week hunt in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province, where villagers have been terrified. A child was killed two years ago in the township by a crocodile that was not caught, and a croc is suspected of killing a fisherman missing since July. Villagers witnessed a crocodile killing a water buffalo last month.
However, Wildlife official Ronnie Sumiller says there still may be an even larger crocodile in the area, based on eyewitness reports. Link -via The Daily What
(Image credit: AP)
Vicki Lowing lives in Australia with her three pet crocodiles. She adopted Johnie, her first crocodile, fifteen years ago. Johnie is now 6 feet long! Lowing tells how the crocodile would get into bed with her and her then-husband, and even slept with her young son.
“Johnie would jump on Andrew’s bed nearly every night. They were like a brother and sister,” Lowing said.
Animal experts tell 20/20 there is no way to domesticate a crocodile. They are too aggressive, powerful and unpredictable. Ultimately a relationship like this may end in real tears – and not crocodile ones.
Lowing, who is now divorced, says the crocs were not responsible for the end of her marriage. But as much as she loves them, scaly reptiles who can take off a human limb with a nip are not exactly nuptial magnets.
“It’s hard, I do meet nice blokes. And then when they do eventually come home and see I’ve got the crocodiles, they just run, they all run. If I could find a man, like another Steve Irwin, sorry Terry, but like a Steve Irwin that could take me and my animals and share the same passion, that would be wonderful,” says Lowing.
Lowing is not the only one keeping crocodiles as pets. Read about more people who do in this article from ABC ‘s 20/20. Link -via Arbroath
Remember Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus? The sequel is going to be even sillier! Bonus: starring Jaleel White, whom you may remember as Steve Urkel. -via Geeks Are Sexy
A couple of weeks ago, we posted a story about a crocodile attacking a baby elephant. That news article said that crocodiles don’t normally attack elephants. Maybe something has changed, because it’s happened again -this time in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park. Swiss tourist Martin Nyfeler caught several photographs of the encounter between a mother elephant with her baby and a Nile crocodile. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!
In the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, the explanation for how the elephant got its trunk involved a crocodile that pulled on a baby elephant’s nose until it stretched out. That same scene was photographed recently in South Africa. A baby elephant was taking a drink when a crocodile, hidden under the surface of the water, clamped down on the juvenile’s trunk!
Hearing the baby’s calls of distress, the herd of elephants immediately went to its rescue, scaring off the crocodile by trumpeting and stamping the ground. After the attack the herd stayed with the youngster.
When the baby had recovered the herd crossed the waterhole together in safety, only yards from where the crocodile had been hiding.
These pictures were taken by amateur photographer Johan Opperman in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Experts said crocodiles don’t normally attack elephants. Link -via Fark
(Image credit: Johan Opperman/Solent News and Photo Agency)
When it rains cats and dogs, do bazillionaires reach for regular boring ol’ umbrella? No, my friends. They use this: the $5,000 crocodile skin umbrella. Why? Because they can.
Here’s a list of 24 ridiculously expensive every day items over at Cool Material: Link
Old and busted: shark cage
The new hotness: croc cage
Here’s a new tourist attraction: the Cage of Death over at the Crocosaurus Cove park in Darwin, Australia:
Fearless participants climb into the clear container – nicknamed the Cage of Death – which is suspended on a monorail track that runs above four crocodile enclosures. Two grated doors lock into position on the top of the 10ft tall box which is then lowered into the water and comes to rest 2ft beneath the surface.
To ensure that the paying customers get their money’s worth, chunks of meat are tied to the bottom of the cage. The crocodiles instantly drawn to it when it enters the water. The results vary from the crocs ‘eye-balling’ the swimmer, rubbing against the cage or going into a full on ‘aggressive attack’ against it.
Thailand has “panda fever”, much like the panda mania that swept the US a few years ago. But American zoos never painted other animals to look like pandas! Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo has a pair of pandas on loan from China who produced a baby named Lin Ping. The birth doubled the zoo’s attendance and revenues, causing other zoos to jump on the panda bandwagon.
At several sites across the country, commercial aquariums and animal parks are painting their animals in panda colors to keep up visitor numbers in the face of tougher competition — as well as educate people about the threats elephants and crocodiles face in the wild.
Mr. Kamla, a 25-year-old crocodile-handler, fielded a barrage of questions from schoolchildren recently at Buengchawark Underwater Sea Paradise as he and a colleague painted a three-month-old Siamese crocodile in panda colors.
“They’re an endangered species, too, like the panda, so we hope some of our knowledge will trickle down,” Mr. Kamla says.
Prasit Vejprasit, an administrator at the aquarium, says busloads of schoolchildren — the mainstay of the aquarium’s business — continue coming to the site, a couple of hours’ travel northwest of Bangkok, encouraged in large part by the panda-colored crocs. He says teachers often call to confirm the aquarium is still painting crocodiles before sending their classes.
The children seem to enjoy the novelty. “Most crocodiles are scary but this one is cute,” says Siripob Dara, 9 years old, before he asks Mr. Kamla how long it can grow and what it eats.
Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
(Image credit: James Hookway/The Wall Street Journal)
Previously at Neatorama: Panda-painted Elephants
Lawrence and Kerryn Munro were walking with their dogs along the White Umfolzi River in South Africa. When they stopped to dip their feet in the water, a ten foot long crocodile grabbed Lawrence by the ankles!
Mr Munro, 33, said: “It was a matter of seconds. I grabbed hold of the rocks and started kicking the croc with my right foot. He let go and grabbed again, getting hold of both feet. I tried to get to my rifle, but I had been dragged closer to the water and couldn’t reach it. Kerryn grabbed under my arm and around my neck and started pulling. Eventually the croc let go.
“My two-way radio had come loose and fallen into the river during the struggle so we couldn’t call for help,” he told the Mercury newspaper.
After pulling her husband free, Mrs Munro ran to the Makhamisa Base Camp for help. Mr Munro was airlifted to hospital in nearby Richards Bay, where he underwent operations to repair tendons in his right foot.
Kerryn Munro, who is five months pregnant, is resting up after the incident. Link -via Digg
(image credit: Flickr user Pandiyan)
Police in Gunbalanya, Northern Teritory, Australia arrested and detained a two meter long female crocodile. The charge? Loitering!
Police said they found it loitering near a fence, trying to look innocent.
Brevet Sergeant Adam Russell said intrigued residents had gathered around to watch the arrest – but any dreams he had of nabbing the gnasher in style were promptly voted down.
“I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style,” he said. “But (the rangers) wouldn’t let me.”
After three days in the clink, during which the croc endured a hosing-down every few hours, the prisoner was turned over to a crocodile farm. Link -via Arbroath
A school trip to the zoo! What fun for the kids! You can make one of these automatons yourself with a kit for £8, plus £2 for postage. Link -via b3ta
Back in 2001, the staff at a crocodile farm in Thailand came across this unusual pair of two-headed Siamese twin crocodiles: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via TYWKIWDBI
