Crocodile Chomps Off Zoo Worker's Arm
Pastor Dale Morgan
Crocodile Chomps Off Zoo Worker's Arm*
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 12, 2007; 2:02 PM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after
his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound
Nile crocodile, an official said.
The crocodile severed Chang Po-yu's forearm on Wednesday at the Shaoshan
Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung when the veterinarian tried to
retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's hide, zoo officials said.
The Liberty Times newspaper said Chang failed to notice the crocodile
was not fully anesthetized when he stuck his arm through an iron rail to
medicate it.
As Chang was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, a zoo worker shot two
bullets at the crocodile's neck to retrieve the forearm, said Chen
Po-tsun, a zoo official.
"The crocodile was unharmed as we didn't find any bullet holes on its
hide," Chen said. "It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let
go of the limb."
The 17-year-old reptile is one of a pair of Nile crocodiles kept by the
Kaohsiung zoo. The crocodile is listed as an endangered species, and is
rapidly disappearing from its native African habitat.
Chen said the zoo purchased the crocodile from a local resident who had
kept it as a pet.