The first such reptile seen in HK waters outfoxes the officers sent to snare it
A cage baited with half a chicken has been set up in the Shan Pui River in Yuen Long to capture a 1.2-metre crocodile, the first such reptile seen in Hong Kong waters.
It is not known where the crocodile came from but it is believed to be an escaped or dumped pet.
The animal, first reported to authorities by villagers on Sunday, yesterday eluded attempts by police and conservation officers to shoot it with a tranquiliser dart and net it. 'We originally planned to have a government vet shoot it with a tranquiliser gun and then officers equipped with nets, ropes, blankets and tape would go ashore and catch it,' chief inspector Mark Ma Kwok-wah said.
Their attempt failed when the crocodile slid into the water and disappeared.
It had earlier been basking on a bank opposite the Hong Kong School of Motoring in the Yuen Long Industrial Estate. About 50 journalists gathered on the opposite bank saw the reptile entering the water to feed on fish, returning to the bank every half hour or so.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department officers and police arrived at 10am and then spent the rest of the morning trying to work out how to catch the wayward reptile. It was lying motionless on the mudflats when a government vet and about 10 police and department officers armed with tranquiliser darts approached it aboard three boats about 1.30pm. But it apparently got wind of the plan and slid back into the water.