Hong Kong's celebrity crocodile -- snared this week after seven months on the run -- is apparently stunned by its captivity and has refused to eat since it was caught, a wildlife official said yesterday.
The croc, who was first spotted in a muddy creek last November, gained celebrity status here by avoiding persistent attempts at capture with dart guns, harpoons and traps set by expert crocodile hunters from across the region.
The reptile finally walked into a snare in the creek on Thursday morning. It was later transferred to an animal center where it has seemed frightened and has refused to eat, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Director Thomas Chan (
Veterinarians plan to feed the croc, which they estimate is four years old, with medicine instead, he said, without naming the treatment.
On Thursday, government vet Eric Tai (
Experts have yet to determine the reptile's gender, Tai said, but added that they suspected it was a "baby girl."
Idy Wong (
Authorities spent around HK$300,000 (US$38,000) in their efforts to catch the croc, government spokesman Donald Lam said.
Though the croc was small -- just 1.5m long and weighing 14kg -- officials had been concerned that it would grow and become a public danger. Even so, this rare visitor won the hearts of Hong Kong's urbanites who are more likely to spot crocs on nature TV shows or as material for designer handbags and shoes. Some locals called it "Gucci" after the Italian designer brand, and one radio station named it "personality of the year."
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
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