Boy dies in crocodile attack - deccanchronicle.com

28 May 2011

A 12-year-old boy, P. Srinath, died on Friday afternoon when a crocodile attacked him as he was swimming in the Pakhal Lake.

The Class V student’s summer holiday was tragically cut short when he went swimming in the crocodile-infested lake with two other friends. The lake is home to more than 20 crocodiles.

A resident of Ashok Nagar in Kanapur mandal, Srinath was visiting his aunt for holidays in the neighbouring Chilakamma Nagar in Kanapur mandal. According to locals, the incident took place at the far end of the Pakhal Lake, at Chilakallagattu, on the Kottaguda route. The boy died of drowning after a crocodile dragged him under water by pulling one of his legs. Srinath’s friends had reported on Friday that he had drowned and the Kanapur police and revenue authorities launched a search operation which continued till Saturday.

His body was finally fished out at around 9 am on Saturday and sent for post mortem to the Narsampet Government Hospital. However, it became clear that the victim had died due to a crocodile attack after rescuers reported of bite marks on Srinath’s legs. This is the first instance of a death due to crocodile attack at Pakhal Lake since Wildlife authorities introduced them here years ago. While there have been many instances of crocodile attacks at the lake in the past, none of them had resulted in a death till now. Last year, a youth from a marriage party from Ellandu was severely injured in a crocodile attack. Attacks are also reported at the lake during immersion of Ganesh idols.

Though signboards have been put up near the lake warning people about swimming, it is rarely followed. Meanwhile, Forest Ranger of Narsempet Mr N. Joginder said that a crocodile count was due at the lake. “The Wildlife officials have so far not conducted any crocodile census in the lake,” he said.

The ultimate fisherman's tale - and it's true! 10 year-old reels in an alligator - dailymail.co.uk

28 May 2011

A smile is guaranteed wash over the face of even the most jaded angler when he thinks he has hooked a minnow but his catch turns out to be a monster.

But imagine the expression on young Michael Dasher's when he reeled what he thought would be a fairly big fish only to find that he'd hooked a 4ft alligator - or a 5ft 9in alligator if you believe the fishy tale told later.

We will never know quite how the 10-year-old reacted when the beast emerged from the water, but what is known is that once it was on dry land he promptly wrestled it to the ground and slung over his shoulder.

Schoolboy Michael Dasher was fishing in a Florida canal when he caught an alligator and dragged it back to his nearby home, suffering only scratches and cuts to his arms and hands

He then marched it off to impress his grandfather, Benjie Cox, and the rest of his family, fearing they would dismiss the story as a flight of fancy.

'When it came through the water and slapped him in the face with its tail ... his two friends ran, but Michael wouldn't be normal like that. He went after it ... taped up its mouth and brought it half a mile home,' his mother Tonya Dasher, 33, told The Times.

The alligator got its rude awakening during an after-school fishing trip in Rockledge, Florida.

Mrs Dasher said that one of the Sunshine state's Fish and Wildlife Commission officers who went to her house with sheriff's deputies told her that he had measured the alligator at 5ft 9in. But Lenny Salberg, a spokesman for the commission, said that the officer's official notes had recorded it at 4ft.

'I think it just kept growing, which seems to happens with fishing stories,' Mr Salberg said.

Mr Cox, 57, said of his grandson: 'He ain't scared of nothin. Nothing.'

The alligator was later released. Tampering with wildlife is an offence punishable in Florida by a $500 (£300) fine and up to 60 days in jail, and Michael received a stern warning, said Mr Salberg, adding: 'He knows now that we don't mess with alligators. The next time, he'll run.'

Michael Dasher (right) caught an alligator and took it home. His grandfather called police when he saw the killer reptile in their front yard. The youngster was let off with a warning by police and wildlife officials

Croc and load soldiers - ntnews.com.au

28 May 2011

TERRITORY soldiers were outnumbered when they faced an army of saltwater crocodiles.

But one lieutenant said he was glad their weapons had already been disarmed.

Lt Arron Kinleyside, 21, said 20 troops from 8/12 Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery helped move more than 400 saltwater crocodiles at Crocodylus Park.

He said the army helped move the little snappers at the crocodile park every year, but this was the first time his unit had been involved.

"The guys really enjoyed it," he said.

But he said as well as helping out the park the exercise was a good way to get soldiers into a situation with a certain amount of risk - something they would face when deployed overseas.

Plan to kill crocodiles enrages some Czechs - ajc.com/news

28 May 2011

VELKY KARLOV, Czech Republic — The plan was to transform the crocodile farm into a park that would offer the general public a wide variety of animals to see, two restaurants to dine at and a pond to go fishing in.

But the finances didn't work out, and now the owner has another plan: slaughter 100 of the farm's 215 Nile crocodiles and make money selling their exotic meat and valuable skin.

Killing protected animals such as crocodiles is currently illegal in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe, but the nation's Ministry of Agriculture is drafting a regulation that would make it possible.

That has outraged some people, including animal rights experts, and even some crocodile farm owners oppose the move.

"We strictly reject the legislation," said Eva Hodek, director of the Prague-based Foundation for Protection of Animals. "There's no reason to allow the only country in the EU to slaughter crocodiles."

Hodek said butchers in the country have no experience killing such animals, meaning they would suffer terribly.

Hodek also said activists suspect the current owners of the farm, who have operated it since February, wanted to slaughter the crocodiles from the start.

"That must have been the real business plan," she said.

Magdalena Dvorackova, the spokeswoman for the Czech Republic's agriculture ministry, said the regulation change regarding crocodiles is needed and that a similar move in the past allowed farmers to slaughter another exotic animal, the ostrich.

Nile crocodiles are not listed as an endangered species in the republic, but animal rights groups say it should not be put in the same category as domestic animals such as pigs, sheep or cows, which farmers raise and legally slaughter.

"It's time for the change," Dvorackova said in an interview. "The crocodiles have grown enough to be slaughtered."

The current director of the crocodile farm, which was opened in southeastern Czech

Republic in 2004, looks forward to such a change.

"We are waiting for the ministry's decision that would allow us to cut their number," Antonin Kyjovsky said of the farm's imported crocodiles. "We just can't afford to keep them all anymore."

Kyjovsky said he expected to have no trouble selling the crocodile meat to restaurants in cities such as Prague and crocodile skin to the makers of products such as belts and shoes.

But opponents of such a regulation change also include some crocodile farmers.

Miroslav Prochazka, director of the oldest Czech crocodile farm, located in Chvalsiny, and a crocodile zoo in Protivin, said he doesn't want to kill a single one of his collection of 110 crocodiles. He said they include 21 of the 23 existing kinds of crocodiles.

"That's nonsense," Prochazka said. "We have no such plan."

At Velky Karlov, a village in southeastern Czech Republic, crocodile keeper Lubomir Rozkot praised the animals he has been taking care of for six years.

"They have a fascinating body and look," Rozkot said. "They are the top predators who haven't changed for 65 millions years."

He said he was not afraid of them, despite the risks.

"You just have to be careful not to make them fell threatened. If they feel threatened, they're not trying to escape, they attack."

Fla. wildlife officials: Crocodile attack unlikely - miamiherald.com

26 May 2011

KEY LARGO, Fla. -- Florida wildlife officials now believe it's highly unlikely that an American crocodile injured two kayakers in the Keys.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman said Wednesday that biologists did not find the couple's injuries were consistent with either a bite or a scratch from either an alligator or a crocodile.

A large alligator or crocodile could have overturned Mike Gregory's and Leigha Poulson's kayaks April 28 in the waters off Key Largo, but the couple didn't see what flipped them, so biologists can't determine what they encountered.

Gregory initially believed the couple had hit a manatee until they realized they had been scratched and bitten.

State wildlife officials say encounters between crocodiles and humans are very rare.

(NB this relates to story dated 30 April 2011 on this blog - Jenn)

Croc handler in hospital after his act bites back - mirror.co.uk

22 May 2011

A GRUMPY crocodile turned on its handler after becoming annoyed by the noisy crowds at a show.

Children watched on as the Cuban croc bit Colin Stevenson on the hand. The wound later needed nine stitches – but only after Colin finished the performance, at Surrey.

“I held a towel in my hand for the rest of the show,” the Aussie said. “Some people didn’t even know it got me.”

Two locals make the cut for crocodile reality show - dailycomet.com

22May 2011

HOUMA — Catching live crocodiles in the Philippines isn't something Rene Hebert or Bryce Labat thought he'd be doing this year.

Rene' Hebert poses Thursday near Jim Bowie Park in Houma. Hebert has been selected to participate in a reality show where he will hunt crocodiles in the Philippines.

But these locals earned two of four spots on a new reality television show set for filming this summer or fall. The show, produced by an Alabama company, will follow two teams of south Louisiana alligator hunters matched up with Filipino crocodile handlers.

The goal is to catch as many invasive saltwater crocs as possible. The ultimate aim is to catch an alleged man-eating crocodile that has tormented one remote fishing village.

They both said they know the beasts are different from the reptiles they have hunted for years in local swamps.

<<Bryce Labat poses for a photo with his dog, Gumbo, Friday afternoon.

“I am giving them a healthy dose of respect,” said Labat, 36, a father and Nicholls State University student. “

Complacency will make me part of the food chain.”

Hebert, 22, is also aware of the dangers and different environment, though the village lives in a marshy area that may have some similarities to his longtime home of Montegut. Labat, who lives in Thibodaux, said he's working on his first-aid and rescue skills with friends who are paramedics. Hebert said he's learning about other animals he may run into and the geography.

“I want to learn the area: what the marsh is like, how strong the current is and deep the water is and how the crocodiles react,” said Hebert, an offshore mechanical engineer.

Man saves dog from alligator - upi.com

22 May 2011

PALM BEACH, Fla., May 22 (UPI) -- A retired Florida construction worker says his lifetime of hard work gave him the strength needed to pull his dog out of an alligator's jaws.

Gary Murphy, 72, told TCPalm.com he isn't a hero. "I just wanted my dog back."

Murphy was working on a boat Thursday when he saw his 11-year-old West Highland White Terrier in the jaws of an alligator. He immediately jumped on the gator's back and hit it on the head until it released the dog.

"It was like landing on a pile of rocks," he said about jumping on the alligator. "If your kid was in the water with its head in a gator's mouth, what would you do?"

When the alligator released the dog, Murphy scooped it up and ran inside his home. He took the dog to an animal hospital the next day, where it was treated for a compressed lung and cuts and puncture wounds to its back and stomach.

Murphy said his healthy lifestyle and having a background in construction gave him the strength to rescue his dog.

Murphy said his wife, who was out of town when the incident happened, asked him a single question.

"Are you nuts?" she asked.