Police in Gaza have finally captured a five-foot-nine crocodile which escaped two years ago from a zoo in the Gaza city of Umm al-Naser.
It was transferred to a zoo under construction in Beit Lahiya, and will join four other crocs in a new pond.
Lieutenant Colonel Samih al-Sultan, who led the search for the massive reptile residents say was eating their small livestock and making them afraid to leave their homes, expressed his admiration for the feisty animal in an interview with the Associated Press, and wished him well in the future. “We hope he lives a good life here with his wives,” Sultan told the AP.
According to the report, waste water workers found the crocodile two months ago, and turned to police. After conducting an internet search to learn how to catch crocodiles, six policemen and a fisherman spent all day in a boat in the sewage pit for two weeks trying to catch the animal, and ultimately succeeded when they traded their fishing nets for shark nets.
It was allegedly smuggled into Gaza drugged two years ago, soon escaping its confinement.