Guest guest Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Arm biting croc wrongly identified Agence France-Presse April 14, 2007 A TAIWANESE zoo today admitted that it has mistakenly identified for eight years a crocodile that bit off a vet's left forearm. A local wildlife expert viewing dramatic television footage of Wednesday's attack pointed out that the animal resembled a saltwater crocodile from Asia rather a Nile crocodile from Africa. The reptile, kept at the Shou Shan Zoo in Kaohsiung city, bit off the vet's arm and held it in its mouth. It only let go when a police officer fired two bullets into its body, in scenes caught on camera and broadcast around the world. The zoo admitted that it made an identification error. " After an examination by the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, it is determined that the animal is a saltwater crocodile, " zoo official Chen Po-tsai said as the sign " (N)ile crocodile " was replaced with the correct name. " We have a shortage of staff with only three vets and three technicians. It is difficult to distinguish the species without a team of experts " , he said. Chang Po-yu, the 38-year-old vet who was attacked, was recovering in a stable condition in hospital after six hours of surgery which re-attached his arm. Meanwhile, the 300-kilogramme male crocodile survived the shooting and is now attracting lots of visitors to its enclosure, zoo officials said. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21555939-5001028,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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