Snappy Christmas, one and all - qt.com.au

22 December 2011

Seven-year-old Hope Bohan and nine-year-old
Sasha Doyle with Santa and a crocodile at the
Community Compassion Christmas party at
the Ipswich Food Barn.

SOME of Ipswich's most needy children enjoyed a very snappy Christmas when they got up close and personal with a baby crocodile at the Community Compassion Christmas Party in Woodend on Tuesday.

Free food hampers, Christmas presents and a cooked lunch were also on offer as about 400 people packed into the group's hot tin-shed headquarters at Darling St.

Children collected presents and mobbed Santa and his unusual pets as parents enjoyed a moment away from the daily hardship faced by many Ipswich families this Christmas.

The Foodbarn is barely a year old, but you would never know it by the number of people who flock to the centre each week for help.

Centre co-ordinator Kerry McQuaker said the church-run facility had fed more than 1500 Ipswich families in the first year and the numbers showed no sign of slowing.

"The sad thing is that everybody is struggling more financially every day," he said.

"We're still increasing by five to 10 families a day here."

The Foodbarn, also known as the Lion and the Lamb Community Centre, opens daily from 9am to primarily provide food hampers to needy families.

The Christmas party was a way to offer families a little extra joy in what can be a difficult time of year for those reliant on welfare services.

Fluffy the crocodile survives bus runover - philstar.com

22 December 2011

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A veterinarian says a young crocodile named Fluffy is back to her cranky old self after being hit by a bus while duck hunting in a north Australian city.

Doug English says the 4 foot, 3 inch (1.3-meter) saltwater crocodile underwent emergency surgery and spent 11 days recovering in the Marlin Coast Veterinary Hospital after the late night accident in a beachside suburb of Cairns.

English said Thursday that while young crocodiles were often killed by cars on Cairns' roads, Fluffy was the first he knew of to survive such an accident.

The crocodile had caught a duck and was headed across the road with it toward a creek when it was hit.

Fluffy was so named by vet nurses because she was found with the "fluffy duck" in her jaws.

Crocodile comes off second best after crossing the road to catch a bus - cairns.com.au

Getting snappy: Fluffy the crocodile gets a bit anxious after 

being patched up by vet Doug English at the Marlin Coast 

Vet Surgery before she will be released into the wild. 

Picture: TOM LEE

21 December 2011

SHE'S all smiles now, but Fluffy the crocodile was in a far more serious state arriving on vet Doug English's operating table 10 days ago.

The 1.3m saltie was found near death by the roadside, clenching a recently caught duck between her sizable jaws after being hit by a bus at Yorkeys Knob.

After noticing the injured reptile about midnight, a local farmer braved the crocodile’s feisty temperament and loaded her in his car.

Dr English had to act quickly to save the croc during an early-morning emergency surgery that lasted almost two hours.

"Its guts were all ruptured and spilling out the side – we had to do the surgery straight away otherwise she would’ve died," he said.

Clinic staff were pleased to see her bite return after the surgery.

"Once she started to get a lot snappier and crankier, we knew she was a lot better," Dr English said.

Nile crocodile is two species, study says - upi.com

19 December 2011

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The Nile crocodile, a species identified by ancient Egyptians, is in fact two distinct species that have been going by the same name, U.S. researchers say.

That's the verdict of genetic analysis using samples taken from species throughout the animal's range, and including DNA from mummified crocodile remains, researchers said.

"This paper provides a remarkable surprise: the Nile crocodile is not a single species, as previously thought, but instead demonstrates two species -- living side-by side -- constitute what has been called the Nile croc," Marlys 

Houck, a geneticist with the San Diego Zoo Global's Institute of Conservation Research, said.

"Even more remarkably, they are not each other's closest relatives; one is more closely related to New World crocodilians," Houck said in a release from the Zoological Society of San Diego Monday.

That species, Crocodylus suchus, is declining or has disappeared throughout much of its distribution, researchers say, and without proper recognition of this species current sustainable use-based management policies for the Nile crocodile may do more harm than good.

"The cryptic Crocodylus suchus is a unique entity worthy of a conservation strategy separate from the Nile crocodile populations of East and southern Africa," Houck said.

Crocodile dumped in a box in Wolverhampton - petside.co.uk

16 December 2011


When we reported previously about a hamster being dumped on one of the coldest nights of the year, little did we think someone wouldraise the ante.

But that's just what happened. Jim Wick, the owner of an exotic animal park and pet shop in Wolverhampton named Wickid Pets discovered the crocodile in a big plastic container on his doorstep. "I saw a big, plastic container. I thought it might have been kittens or turtles because we often have animals left outside. I was taken aback when I lifted the lid and looked inside."

He rushed the animal up in his arms and carried her to a reptile vivarium, the staff are now looking after Snappy the Christmas Crocodile who they say is doing well and is none the worse for her experiences.

Mr Wick contacted local police to see if there had been any reports of missing crocodiles or if it had been accidentally taken during a robbery and abandoned by fear struck criminals. He will now help look after her until experts can collect her. 

There's been no indication where she came from or by what path she ended up in a plastic container on their doorstep, but Mr Wick says it sadly isn't an unfamiliar story "Some people aren't given the facts when they buy animals like this and they find them too much to cope with. They need specialist care."

Students are snap happy with a crocodile - biggleswadetoday.co.uk

15 December 2011

Darrell Roberts with Snap Happy

A baby crocodile is the first to hatch at a college in the UK.

The 14cm long caiman crocodilian has hatched at Shuttleworth College. The students have been studying the incubation and egg development of 14 eggs laid by mother Caiman. They were thrilled when the first baby crocodile hatched and more are incubating.

Carl Groombridge, Animal Centre manager, said: “This has been an incredible learning experience for our students and when the baby croc arrived there were definitely a few crocodile tears of joy!

“It is a privilege to care for such an incredible creature as the baby caiman and we hope that soon he will have brothers and sisters joining him.”

Snap Happy may be small now but one day he will be 2m to 2.5m in length. He is being hand-reared and cared for by students and staff in a specially built croc creche. He is eating small grubs at the moment.

Carl added: “We feel that we’ve been given an early and very special Christmas present.”

Crocodile farmer tears into metal thieves - huntspost.co.uk

15 December 2011

It would have taken six or eight men to lift the 16ft long by four ft wide bronze crocodile that farmer Andy Johnson bought in July in the early hours of Wednesday morning last week, Mr Johnson, whose Church Farm at Old Hurst has been in the family for generations, told The Hunts Post.

“It was one of only five made by Paris Bronze before they broke the mould. I paid £4,000 for it, but it would cost £6,000 to replace. All the kids sat on it to have their photographs taken. It was very popular.

“They also took another bronze of two pixies jumping over a toadstool, worth £300,” he added.

But whoever took the bronzes – and Mr Johnson has a fair idea who was responsible – had better not go near Church Farm again – except to return the items.

“I would like to catch them and throw them in with the real ones,” he said.

Mr Johnson believed the bronzes had been in a secure area between the tea room and the crocodile house. They were about to be moved to an even more secure area under the gaze of the farm’s security cameras.

But the thieves struck at around 12.30 on Wednesday, December 7, while he was out shooting a fox.

PC Simon Page, from Cambridgeshire police’s rural community action team, said: “The bronze crocodile statue is extremely rare and worth several thousand pounds. It would have taken several people due to its weight and size.

“I urge anyone who saw anything suspicious or is offered the statues for sale to contact police.”

CONTACT: Anyone with information should call PC Page on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.