A man from Jhuci Township, Chiayi County has donated two rare crocodiles to Taipei Zoo. It took 20 zoo staff and plenty of rope to subdue the ferocious creatures.
The Malayan gharials, which were reared by Juan Chin-bang and his son Juan Mao-sheng, are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The zoo staff decided not to anesthetize the beasts, reasoning that their slow metabolism would mean a lot of time would be wasted waiting for the anesthetic to take effect. The staff started work at 8am, and by 10.30am both crocodiles had been safely packed in crates and hoisted onto the back of a truck.
The Juan family started breeding crocodiles 30 years ago in line with the government’s agricultural policy, and now have over 100 of them. However, with animal protection being a popular topic right now, and with the rumble of passing traffic affecting the hatching of the eggs, the family took the advice of a friend and decided to donate two crocodiles to a zoo.
PHOTO: LIBERTY TIMES, HSIEH YIN-CHUNG 照片：自由時報記者謝銀仲
Zoo staff traveled down to Chiayi in August and selected two crocodiles, which were then isolated and put under observation for four months. Last week, 20 staff, assisted by two cranes and the Juan family, accomplished their mission of packing up the crocodiles for transportation.
Zoo staff said that because crocodiles are cold-blooded animals with slow metabolism, it would take a day for the anesthetic injection to take effect, which is why they decided not to bother with it. But since crocodiles are aggressive animals that can launch devastating and rapid attacks, the staff had to remain on guard at all times.
The zoo staff decided to first remove the 3.7m-long female. A sack was thrown over her eyes, her mouth was tethered shut and then 10 men rushed at her and sat astride her back. Following the taking of a blood sample, measuring her length and some other procedures, she was put in a wooden crate and hoisted onto a truck.
The male is 4.7m-long and weighs around 700kg, while the female weighs 400kg. The two newcomers are already on display at the zoo.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
住在嘉義縣竹崎鄉的一位民眾，近日捐贈一對稀有長吻鱷給台北市立動物園。大約二十位工作人員以優勢人力，配合繩索的輔助，以最原始的方式抑制這條猛獸，過程驚險。
阮金榜、阮茂盛父子飼養的鱷魚是華盛頓公約列入瀕臨絕種的保育類馬來長吻鱷。工作人原因認為鱷魚新陳代謝緩慢，等麻藥發作要花很長的時間，所以省略這個步驟。他們於八點動工，兩隻鱷魚於十點半就已經裝箱以吊車放在卡車上。
阮氏父子三十餘年前配合政府農業政策飼養鱷魚，目前農場飼養將近一百隻鱷魚。但近日動物保育意識抬頭，加上附近道路車輛經過的噪音，使鱷魚下蛋卻孵不出小鱷魚，所以接受他人建議捐贈兩隻給動物園。
園方今年八月南下嘉義，選了二十九歲的兩隻鱷魚，並將之隔離。經近四個月觀察，上週由動物園二十餘人及二部吊車，在飼主協助下才成功裝箱運送。
動物園表示，鱷魚是冷血動物，新陳代謝緩慢，注射麻藥必須等將近一整天才發作，所以才用這種方式捕捉。惟鱷魚攻擊性強，捕捉過程須防其翻滾肌肉瞬間激烈運動造成傷害。
工作人員先選定三點七公尺的母鱷，用麻布袋遮眼睛，繩索套嘴，拉出池畔，十餘人再一湧而上，跨坐在鱷魚背上制伏，採集血液檢體、量體長等程序後，裝入木箱內，吊到車上。
這對馬來長吻鱷，公鱷長四點七公尺、重約七百公斤；母鱷約四百公斤，動物園遊客已經可看到這對嬌客。
（自由時報記者謝銀仲）
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