Egypt's newest public wonder: the temple of the crocodile god - gadling.com

13 May 2011

Last week a new ancient site opened to the public in Egypt--a temple of the crocodile god Sobek. Medinet Madi is located in Egypt's Faiyum region, a fertile area around a lake at the end of a branch of the Nile called Bahr Yusuf ("The River of Joseph").

The temple features a long avenue lined with sphinxes and lions, plus an incubation room for hatching the eggs of sacred crocodiles. You'd think these crocs would live the good life, splashing around the swamps and gnawing on a sacrificial victim or two. Instead they were mummified and sold to pilgrims. Check out the gallery for a couple of photos of crocodile mummies. Sobek was one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. He's generally pictured with the body of a man and the head of a crocodile. He's said to have created the Earth when he laid eggs in the primordial waters, and the Nile is supposed to be his sweat. He's the god of the Nile, the Faiyum, and of course crocodiles. In ancient times the Nile and the lush wetlands of the Faiyum were full of crocodiles. The people prayed to Sobek to appease them. Because he was a fierce god, he was one of the patrons of the ancient Egyptian army. Sobek's temple at Medinet Madi was built by the pharaohs Amenemhat III (c.1859-1813 BC) and Amenemhat IV (c.1814-1805 BC) during Egypt's Middle Kingdom and expanded during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC) after Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. The temple is also dedicated to the cobra-headed goddess Renenutet, who in some traditions was Sobek's wife. Despite her appearance, she was a much kinder deity than Sobek, a sort of mother goddess who nursed babies and gave them their magical True Name. Farmers liked her because cobras ate the rats that would eat their crops.

The new tourist site was funded by Italy, which coughed up €3.5 million ($5 million) to clear off the sand and restore the temple. Italian archaeologists have been working in the area for decades and in addition to the Sobek temple they've found

a Roman military camp and ten early Coptic Christian churches dating from the 5th-7th century AD. Medinet Madi isn't the only crocodile temple.

Not far away stands Crocodilopolis, where Egyptians honored the sacred crocodile Petsuchos by sticking gold and gemstones into its hide. There are several other Sobek temples along the Nile, the most impressive being Kom Ombo far to the south near Aswan. Kom Ombo is one of Egypt's most fascinating temples. It's rather new as Egyptian temples go--being founded in the second century BC by the Ptolemaic dynasty. Carvings of Sobek and other deities adorn the walls and columns. There are also some scenes from daily life. On the inner face of the outer corridor keep an eye out for a carving showing a frightening array of old surgeon's tools. Also check out the small shrine to Hathor in the temple compound where piles of sacred crocodiles from the nearby necropolis are kept.

Video: Alligator attacks police car bumper - newslite.tv

5 May 2011

Video: Alligator attacks police car bumper

When police in Florida were called out to deal with an alligator wandering around a residential neighbourhood, it didn't take long to find the offending creature… it attacked their patrol car.

Officers say the 10ft gator promptly clamped his jaw down on the bumper of the patrol car and, as this video shows, refused to let go.

Eventually red-faced cops, who'd managed to dislodge the snappy creature by reversing the car, were forced to let him go and call in a licensed trapper.

Officers say the vehicle suffered some damage to the bumper and grill… but it was nothing compared to the damage caused to the officers pride at having to call for backup.

Get off my patch... and make it snappy! Astonishing moment an angry hippo came face to face with a grumpy croc - dailymail.co.uk

5 May 2011

After hours waiting beside an African river, Arnaud Germain thought he finally had the

perfect shot of his favourite bird.

But as the wildlife photographer trained his lens on the colourful kingfisher, he got a rather different snap than he was expecting.

All of a sudden, a crocodile and a hippo burst from the tranquil waters straight in front of him, locking jaws in ferocious battle.

Arnaud desperately tried to refocus his camera on the river

monsters as they fought on the banks of the Shire River, in the Liwonde National Park, Malawi.

Beastly surprise: As the photographer trained his lens on the colourful bird as it drank at an African river, a crocodile and a hippo burst from the tranquil waters straight in front of him

As these incredible images show he captures the moment the crocodile and hippo clashed in a bloody tooth-on-tooth tussle.

At first it looks like the reptile has the upper hand as its head is almost as large of the hippos but the protective mum, defending a calf, soon prove

s too strong sending the scaly intruder packing, bloodied and bruised.

And the kingfisher seemed completely unphased by the commotion and stayed on its perch the whole time ready for its close up.

Jaws: The two river monsters tussled for a few minutes as the hippo tried to defend its calf

The remarkable sequence of events unfolded on Arnaud's 32nd and last trip to the park and made for a event he would never forget.

Arnaud, 37, who has now moved to Nuneaton, Warks, said the momentous day started like any other morning with no hint of the drama to come.

He said: 'After six years in Malawi and 32 trips to Liwonde National Park, I was on my last game drive.

'It was a beautiful morning of June, the air was cold and crisp, and McLoud Kaliati (my guide and friend) and I were alone in the car.

'So far, we had had a very good drive: we had spotted a big herd of sable antelopes, the spoor of a young male rhino that had recently escaped from the breeding sanctuary and more amazingly, a herd of bushpigs eating the remains of a nine-foot long python.

'As we left the mopane woodland, we entered the floodplain by the Shire River. It is a very good spot for different antelopes and some days, elephants.

'It also attracts a lot of different birds - the bird list for the park is over 300 species - my favourite family of birds is the kingfisher and on a good boat ride along the river, I had managed to see five different species several times.

'McLoud parked the car close to the waterC'b,b's edge as there was a malachite kingfisher in the reeds about 15 feet from us.

'To make the picture more interesting, there was a female hippo in the background. I started shooting with my 500mm lens and realised that there was a tiny baby hippo with the female.

'After five very peaceful minutes and as I was still composing shots with the kingfisher and the hippos when all hell broke loose.

'A huge crocodile - probably over 12 foot - lunged at the hippo baby but maternal instincts are very strong in the animal kingdom and mother hippos are no exception.

'She turned very fast for such a bulky animal and met the crocodile head on.

'When I realised what happened, I turned the camera as quickly as possible and refocused to take the fight.

'The crocodile clamped his jaws on the bottom jaw of the mother instead of the delicious baby, it let go and tried lunging again only to be met by the angry mum again.

Worth the wait: The remarkable sequence of events unfolded on Arnaud's 32nd and last trip to the park and made for a event he would never forget

'They squared off, jaws agape a few more times before the crocodile realised that, having lost the element of surprise, there was no way he could get pass the mother hippo to eat the baby.

'It just swam away after a 45 seconds fight he was never going to win, with such a big and powerful mum, baby hippos donC'b,b't have much to fear.

'In 13 years of guiding, it was the first time Mcleod had seen a crocodile squaring up to an adult hippo. As for me, it was the perfect way to end a truly unforgettable last weekend in Liwonde.' Arnaud is now looking for a publisher to help him make a book about his amazing photographs and experiences in Africa. Liwonde National Park lies in the South of Malawi, a small country in Southern Africa.

The Park, which has an area of just over 200 miles square, allows tourists to see different species of antelopes, large herds of elephants and more than 300 bird species.

The Shire River is the most important feature of the park and boasts large concentrations of both hippos and crocodiles.

Newquay's aquarium invites visitors to name miniature crocodiles - thisiscornwall.co.uk

5 May 2011

Visitors to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay will have the chance to name their newest arrivals – a pair of miniature crocodiles.

The Cuvier’s dwarf caimans arrived at the award-winning aquarium last month from London Zoo as part of a brand new Amazon-themed freshwater feature.

The crocodiles, a male and a female, had to be transported in specially-designed containers which protected keepers from their fearsome jaws.

According to their keepers at London Zoo, the pair has already shown signs of mating so aquarists have created a suitable habitat to allow them to breed in the future.

“Ideally we’d like the name to reflect the fact that the caimans are a pair and that they are the smallest members of the crocodile family,” said Blue Reef’s Christine Comery.

“There have already been a few suggestions from team members but we’re hoping our visitors will provide us with some better alternatives,” she added.

The Cuvier’s dwarf caiman is the smallest surviving member of the crocodilian family found in the Americas. Fully grown adult males reach up to 1.6 metres in length.

The ‘name the caimans’ competition will be running until the end of May and visitors will be able to post their entries into a special ‘crocbox’ alongside the aquarium’s new display.

A team of judges from the aquarium’s zoological team will choose a winner and, as well as having the honour of naming their very own crocodiles, they will also win a year’s family pass to the aquarium.

‘Mini-Crocs’ recreates the South American miniature crocodiles’ flooded forest habitat and includes a central island decorated with real trees donated from a local farmer and the National Trust and living plants donated by the Eden Project.​

Monster croc pulled from NT trap - abc.net.au

4 May 2011

Rangers are warning people to remain vigilant around Top End waterways after a huge saltwater crocodile was pulled from a trap near Katherine.

The 4.6-metre reptile is the largest of the 116 crocodiles caught by wildlife officers in the Northern Territory this year.

The monster croc was pulled out of a trap in the Katherine River, about 10 kilometres from the town of Katherine.

Ranger Joey Buckerfield says the crocodile was so heavy it took unusual measures to get him out of the trap.

"There were about six of us on the rope and we could not pull him out," he said.

"We ended up having to winch him out with the Toyota.

"A couple of times before we have had to winch them out or just pull them up steep embankments.

"This time he was just genuinely heavy - by our estimates between 600 kilograms and 700 kilograms."

Mr Buckerfield says a 3.4m saltwater crocodile was also caught about one kilometres downstream from the popular Wangi Falls in Litchfield National Park.

"Even though the wet season has finished and the dry season is here, crocodiles still inhabit waterways and all the remnant waterholes of the river systems," he said.

"Anywhere you go where you are likely to encounter crocodiles, whether it be fishing, boating or camping, we just ask the public to be croc-wise."

Meanwhile, police have downgraded a search for a fisherman missing from Elcho Island, who they suspect may have fallen victim to a crocodile.

Police fear croc took missing fisherman - abc.net.au

4 May 2011

Northern Territory Police have suspended their search for a 54-year-old fisherman who has been missing on Elcho Island for three days.

Police say the man went fishing at the same spot he does every day on Mission Beach near Galiwinku on Sunday morning and has not been seen since.

Emergency services officers and community members had searched the area for three days, using helicopters and boats as well as on foot.

Yesterday, some of the man's personal items, including clothing, a wallet and fishing gear were found.

Police believe he has fallen victim to a crocodile, a shark or stingers.

The man's family said he would often wade out into the water when fishing.

Three crocodiles have been seen in the area in the last few days.

One was shot but no human remains were found inside it.

Earlier today, police downgraded their search for the man.

Senior Sergeant Brendan Muldoon says helicopters were pulled out of the operation but the search of the Mission Beach area continued until mid-afternoon when the search was finally suspended.

Northern Watch Commander Tony Deutrom says the missing man's family is coming to terms with the fact he may be dead.

Florida couple become the state's first ever to be attacked by a crocodile (usually it's the alligators that do the biting) - dailymail.co.uk

30 April 2011

A young couple have become the first people ever in Florida to have been attacked by a crocodile.

Mike Gregory, 23, and Leigha Poulson, 20, who miraculously escaped with minor injuries, were kayaking in the early morning in Florida Keys after a night out partying, when they were flipped into the water.

As they struggled to get back inside the kayak, they were both bitten on the leg by a crocodile, with Poulson also suffering scratch marks to her side.

Bitten: Mike Gregory shows off his wound, believed to have been

caused by an American crocodile in the first ever attack of its kind

While alligators are a fairly common danger in Florida, no one is thought to have been

attacked before in the state by the elusive American crocodile.

Officials have yet to confirm the details of the attack, but the couple are convinced it was a crocodile that bit them and the claims have been backed by a top university biologist.

'I think it's cool. Kind of made history a little bit,' Gregory said. 'We're lucky to be alive.'

Leigha Poulson, who along with Mike Gregory, may have been the victim of the first ever American crocodile attack after their kayak was flipped

Poulson, who recently moved to from Ohio to study marine biology at Florida Keys Community College, added: 'I was saying how pretty it was out there and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because I am from Ohio and then the boat just flipped.

'I was screaming"Oh my God!"

Pictures of the attack were sent to Frank Mazzotti, a biologist at

the University of Florida Research and Education Center, who is known as the 'Croc Doc'.

He believes no

other animal could have caused such damage, because the area where the couple were kayaking is inhabited almost

exclusively by crocodiles.

In the keys, crocodiles usually stay in the brackish, salt water,while alligators typically roam further inland in the fresh water.

Attack: An American crocodile in Florida, which are never before thought to have bitten any humans in the state

'That area is almost all crocodiles,' Mazzotti said. 'On very rare occasions an alligator may stray into there. Nine out of 10 times it would be a croc in that area.

'It's possible that it may have been an alligator, but that’s going out on a limb to say that.'

After they were bitten, at around 3.30am on Thursday, the couple thought they must have been attacked by a manatee. It was only later they decided a crocodile might have been responsible.

'We thought we might have hit a manatee and gotten bruised up,' Gregory told the Florida Keynoter.

'We made it back to the house and we got into the light. We looked at each other and were bleeding like crazy.'

American crocodiles are classified as a threatened species and were once on the verge of extinction. Mazzotti said American crocodiles are not as aggressive as their African namesakes.

Speaking of the young couple's run in with the crocodile on Thursday, he said: 'I wouldn't describe it as an attack. It was an escape attempt by the crocodile.

'They are not grabbing you to eat you. They are giving a warning, "Don’t mess with me."'