Live crocodile found at Hong Kong garbage site
Source: AFP |
December 11, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A LIVE crocodile has been found dumped in a fish tank at a Hong Kong garbage site, the second time in nine years that a crocodile has surfaced in the densely populated city.
The 1.2-meter, 5-kilogram croc was thought to have been dumped by a pet owner who found it too hard to handle. It appeared unharmed and was being cared for at a government animal center, The Standard newspaper reported yesterday.
Conservation officials were trying to decide where to relocate the reptile, including whether it would join its predecessor Pui Pui at a wetland park.
Pui Pui, a saltwater crocodile, made headlines after it was spotted in a Hong Kong river in 2003. It eluded hunters including Australian experts for months before it was eventually captured.
Pet shop owners say while some residents in the space-starved Chinese city of 7 million keep reptiles like snakes or lizard as pets, it is extremely rare for someone to have a pet crocodile.
"People think it is amusing to keep a crocodile at first," reptile pet shop owner Dio Chan said. "But as it grows, they need to buy a larger tank and more food and other equipment and eventually they give up ownership."
The 1.2-meter, 5-kilogram croc was thought to have been dumped by a pet owner who found it too hard to handle. It appeared unharmed and was being cared for at a government animal center, The Standard newspaper reported yesterday.
Conservation officials were trying to decide where to relocate the reptile, including whether it would join its predecessor Pui Pui at a wetland park.
Pui Pui, a saltwater crocodile, made headlines after it was spotted in a Hong Kong river in 2003. It eluded hunters including Australian experts for months before it was eventually captured.
Pet shop owners say while some residents in the space-starved Chinese city of 7 million keep reptiles like snakes or lizard as pets, it is extremely rare for someone to have a pet crocodile.
"People think it is amusing to keep a crocodile at first," reptile pet shop owner Dio Chan said. "But as it grows, they need to buy a larger tank and more food and other equipment and eventually they give up ownership."
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