Croc loose in HK
Well we don't get much wild life at large in Asia's Concrete Jungle and Shoppers'Paradise, but we actually have a loose croc in the river! It is quite hilarious to watch the antics of the Agfish people... I await developments.(I bet you can't wait , can you?)

That's tooooooo funny! Calling Crocodile Dundee! Or maybe Steve Irwin would fancy the trip!
Please don't dangle your toes in the river ok Ren? He might be hungry!
PF

I don't think half a chicken is even going to whet the appetite. Perhaps something a bit larger and meatier will do the trick.

I have to say that our HK "experts'have today added 3 or 4 more cages. The top wildlife man has suggested that chicken "may"not be the right thing...He (she?) has been seen catching and eating fish in the river, so maybe any kind of bait will be ignored.
They are reluctantly suggesting that an outside opinion might be the answer.

I note that everyone is completely fascinated by this news (not). However I know you really want an update. The cages did no good at all as he swam in and took the bait, the trapdoor failed to spring (must be our famed local workmanship) and he swam out again with a grin.
We now have an Australian expert called John Lever (anyone heard of him?) who is here to catch him 'with his bare hands'This has so far not happened although the gentleman has been there for four nights. There has been some wonderfully witty stuff in the alternative press here(not):

Quote:

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Meanwhile, our government officials could take a lesson in evasiveness from Hong's newest resident:


For the third morning running, Australian crocodile expert John Lever came close to catching the Yuen Long crocodile yesterday but was thwarted by the wily reptile.

"But nothing succeeds like persistence with a croc. We have to keep trying and trying. This is normal with crocodiles. We just need a little luck," said Mr Lever, adding some crocs could take months to catch.

"They haven't survived 180 million years without being sensitive to danger."


At the rate things are going, the croc will be qualify for permanent residence before he's nabbed, which would make him eligible for to serve as Chief Executive. We could do worse than to replace the Turtle with a crocodile.

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Playing Jimmy Nail's song, 'Crocodile Shoes' loudly at a few strategic points might anger the crocodile enough to bring it out of hiding. Then it could be wrestled into submission by the nearest passer-by.

Any Updates on the Croc? Is he still on the loose? Maybe they should play Elton John's Crocodile Rock for him. That might get some reaction. How could you not want to dance to that?LOL LOL LOL!
PF

Well, not a lot. Mr John Lever went off to Bali for a weekend's R and R. He is back and says he can only stay till the next weekend. It seems to have eluded the gent, for all his declaring how it was a small one and he would be able to catch it with his own bare hands. So far no luck.Now the focus seems to be on the long distance truck driver who brought three crocs into HK from the Mainland. He admits to having eaten two, but the third slipped away and swam off into the river. This is the now famous "Croc-croc Chan"(so called after the family who first saw him in the river. ) The lorry driver has a problem as he was very naughty to import endangered crocs and eat them too.We await the next installment. Poor Croc-croc, meanwhile is getting a lot of attention from the media and remains at large.

Well, so it seems Mr. John Lever has conceded defeat with the croc of his...

Heard this on BBC radio a couple (?) of days back, where they were interviewing him after his failure, and I think I feel rather sorry for him! The poor croc probably deserves more sympathy, stuck in those grimy, smelly seweres...hope he/she gets out soon (alive and kicking, of course!).


Aussie expert can't find croc
By Dirk Beveridge in Hong Kong
28Nov03

AN Australian hunter, who conceded defeat today in his quest to nab a stray crocodile in Hong Kong, will step aside and let two experts from mainland China try their luck.

John Lever once boasted he would just "walk in and grab" the croc but walked away empty-handed, calling it quits today after four straight nights of not even spotting the wily 1.2-metre crocodile.

Hong Kong will bring in two new hunters from the town of Panyu in neighbouring Guangdong province as his replacements, said Viola Kwan of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

They are due tomorrow, when they will survey the swampy creek where the reptile was first seen on November 2 before making an attempt to catch it, Kwan said late today.

Lever, a croc farmer from Queensland, said he expects the Australian media to give him a major ribbing when he flies home on the weekend, but said he's thick-skinned enough to take it.

"I've come here and done my best," said Lever, who began hunting the croc two weeks ago.

"Someone had to have a try for this crocodile and I put my hand up."

The crocodile has become a local celebrity after thwarting all attempts at capture. It has shown up in countless newspaper photos, paddling in the murky waters of a suburban creek or resting on the bank, jaws wide open. Crowds came to the creek hoping to catch a glimpse of the star.

Lever said that while the reptile could be spotted in the daylight from a distance, it could not be hunted then because it, too, could see the hunters and dive into the water.

Conservation officials first sought to bag the elusive reptile with tranquilizer guns, but it always plunged to freedom. Then traps, baited with chicken, were set. The croc stepped into at least one of them, but soon stepped back out.

Lever said he learned his skills from croc-worshipping indigenous people in Papua New Guinea.

Before flying to Hong Kong, he boasted from Australia that he would just "walk in and grab" the croc, but those bold words came back to haunt him as the media reported failed hunt after failed hunt.

He tried harpooning the croc and set his own specially designed traps. Eventually, the croc vanished. Lever said it might reappear in three to four weeks.

Hong Kong has no native crocodiles and officials are not sure where the beast came from. A local newspaper reported that a truck driver smuggled three crocs into Hong Kong, ate two and one escaped.

Lever advised Hong Kongers to keep an eye out for the croc and said that any officials who try to capture it should not worry about being bitten because "it's a little croc so it would be a little bite."

"If you worry about being bitten, you'll never catch a crocodile," Lever said.

"I've told them, also, if they get within grabbing distance, just grab it."

This report appears on news.com.au.

I am bringing this thread up as I know you will all be absolutely fascinated by the news that the Yuen Long Croc has been caught. She (yes a female, of course) was caught in the net of a quick witted local fisherman. The gentleman had earlier offered to trap her himself for the sum of 2000$HK, but was refused as he"did not hold a hunting licence"
He then called the Ag fish, who seem to have taken all credit, ignoring the said fisherman,and taking her away, not even compensating him for his torn net.
She is now in custody awaiting a home in the marine park (she is a saltwater croc) She is about 1 and a half meters and in very good health, which is more than I would be having spent 6 months in the grotty Yuen Long River.
Well, I thought you would all like to know.
It was headline news here, the cartoons are very funny . She was, after all, HK personality of the year for 2003!

It was on the news here too yesterday.

You'd think the Ag Fish would have given the fisherman enough money to recover his 'net losses'.

<Groan>
The Agfish have now given the poor guy a new net. He says that he would have preferred the money so he could have chosen his own net (preferable a Taiwan made one). Agfish are saying that they caught the croc as it was in one of their traps, and the fisherman only threw his net over the trap and phoned the department.
The croc still hasn't eaten as it is 'upset'.