STANDARD TIMES (San Angelo, Texas) 30 September 06 Runaway crocodile shot dead (Matt Phinney)
Nolan, the Nile crocodile, is dead.
The animal's owner, Zach Rabon, said the reptile was killed Wednesday by a Mason landowner who owned the stock tank where the runaway Nile crocodile was living. Earlier reports from people who lived in Mason indicated the animal was a caiman, a member of the alligator family, but Rabon said it was a crocodile.
Nolan escaped his tank at Rabon's house about a month ago when heavy rains around Mason raised the water level, Rabon said. The crocodile was spotted last week in a tank owned by Jerry Kothmann, Rabon said.
Kothmann did not return a call from the Standard-Times.
Initial attempts to catch the crocodile were unsuccessful, but the local animal control officer played a waiting game, hoping the crocodile would resurface so it could be captured.
Rabon said the landowner told him he would notify animal control if he saw the crocodile.
''I'm appalled by the way it went down,'' Rabon said.
''Don't tell me you don't kill things and then kill an animal. I am out of town a lot on business, but I've purposely been staying right locally so that if he saw him he could call me. I haven't heard a word.''
Rabon said he is talking to attorneys to see if he has any legal recourse but hopes it doesn't come to a lawsuit. He said he just wants the landowner to explain to him why he killed the crocodile without notifying him or animal control.
Mason Animal Control officer Barbie McGowan had been baiting an old coyote trap with chicken and turkey to entice the animal. She said the landowner asked her to remove the trap last week but said he would notify her if he saw the animal.
She said she didn't hear from the landowner again until he brought the dead crocodile to her office Wednesday wrapped in a plastic bag.
She took pictures of the dead animal and then notified Rabon of the animal's death Thursday, she said.
''If he had a livestock cow get out, would he want someone to shoot it, or call him and tell him to come get it?'' Rabon said. ''This was a pet of mine.''
Rabon said he bought the crocodile in 2001 for $500 to raise, with the intention to donate it to a zoo once it was grown. He said the crocodile's mother had been killed by a poacher. He said he knows of organizations that find homes for reptiles at accepting zoos.
Debbie Vanskike, marketing and public relations for the San Antonio Zoo, said most zoos that are accredited members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums do not accept animals from individuals. They get animals through a more rigorous process.
AZA is America's leading accrediting organization for zoos and aquariums, and accredits only those institutions that have achieved rigorous standards for animal care, education, wildlife conservation and science, according to the organization's Web site.
The group has 200 accredited members, including 18 Texas zoos.
''I can't speak for everyone, but that's not normal for us,'' Vanskike said when told about Rabon's notion of donating the croc. ''You never know what you would be getting or where the animal came from or what's its history.''
Runaway crocodile shot dead