Croc Update (Mafia Edition)

Readers of this blog knew this already.

Dead mobster's Siberian tiger seized - UPI.com: "Police said in other Mafia arrests in the past, they have confiscated a large crocodile that was used to intimidate people into paying extortion, as well as a white python that was used to guard a large stash of cocaine, the report said."

Croc Update (Extinction Edition)

AFP: Endangered crocodiles released to fight extinction: "Nineteen of the world's most critically endangered crocodiles were released Thursday into the wild in the Philippines as part of efforts to save the species from extinction, conservationists said.

The freshwater crocodiles, which had been reared for 18 months at a breeding centre, were set free in a national park in the remote north of the country that is one of just two remaining natural habitats for the reptile."

I, for One, Welcome Our New Dwarf Croc Overloards

BBC News - Dwarf crocodiles in name training at Cheshire aquarium: "A pair of dwarf crocodiles can recognise their own names after training, a Cheshire aquarium claims.

The tiny reptiles, called Paleo and Suchus, are even learning when they are allowed to open their mouths, the Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port says.

The programme has been successful with mammals but it is one of the first times it will be used on reptiles."

A Man and his Croc

Thanks to Karin Montin for the link.

globeandmail.com: SOCIAL STUDIES

Every Sunday, Gilberto Shedden of Costa Rica dons a tattered pair of leopard-print shorts, dives into a lake and splashes about in the water with his 4 ½-metre crocodile Pocho, to gasps from a large crowd of locals and tourists. Mr. Shedden, Reuters reports, rolls the croc on his back, cavorts with him, lifts his toothy head out of the water and even kisses him tenderly on the snout. Seventeen years ago, the fisherman found the then-2-metre American crocodile lolling about in a river with a bullet in its head. He brought it home and nursed it until it was better, then took it to a lake near his house. But to his surprise, it slithered out and followed him home. "That convinced me the crocodile could be tame," he said.

Crimebusting Croc

Man bitten by croc while fleeing police - Yahoo!7 News: "A man has been bitten on the head by a crocodile at Daly River, about 150 kilometres south of Darwin, while trying to flee police.

Police say they tried to contact the 40-year-old man at his house for much of yesterday, alleging he had breached his bail conditions.

They say each time they approached the house the man ran away to the long grass near the riverbank.

When police visited at 8pm ACST last night, the man again ran to the river.

A search for him failed but he turned up later at a nearby house bleeding from wounds to his head and hand.

The man claimed he had been bitten by a crocodile.

He was treated locally and then taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital this morning.

Acting Police Superintendent Tony Fuller says police are trying to see the 'funny side' of the incident."