TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A crocodile of a meter's length was caught swimming in a gutter in Douliu City, Yunlin County, on Tuesday (March 10) after residents reported it lurking in farm fields.
Douliu City Council Chairman Hu Ke-qin (胡克勤) on Facebook shared the story of how the croc was subdued by Jiangcuo village chief Shen Yong-qing (沈永清) and volunteer firefighter Liao Guo-zhi (廖國志). As there is no crocodile farm in the vicinity, Hu assumed that it was a pet that had run away or been abandoned, CNA reported.
Sources at Hu’s office said that a Douliu resident saw the Facebook post and called to ask about the reptile's whereabouts, saying that a crocodile they kept at home had escaped during a flood last year and that they suspected the croc caught in the gutter Tuesday to be theirs.
Shen told CNA that a villager who heard the story called it "ridiculous," saying that if the owner lost their pet crocodile last year and was only trying to find it now, it was fortunate it had not attacked anyone.
The village chief said that villagers reported the presence of a crocodile in the area as early as three or four months ago, but when he went to investigate, there was no sight of the animal. Then came the report on Tuesday, which he at first assumed to be false, but to his amazement, upon arriving at the scene, there was the crocodile swimming in the gutter.
Soon Liao joined him, and together the two men looped a rope around the animal's mouth. After a struggle, they managed to fish it out of the water, the report said.
(胡克勤 Facebook photo)
