SHANGHAI DAILY (China) 23 October 06 Thailand trip inspiration for local crocodile farm (Lu Feiran)
After Wang Junhua, a 37-year-old supermarket owner from Nanhui District, returned home from a trip to Thailand in 2004, he decided to raise Siamese crocodiles in Shanghai.
"Crocodile farms can be seen everywhere there, and the market price was as low as 40 yuan (US$5) to 60 yuan a kilogram," said Wang. "I thought, why can't I introduce the industry to Shanghai? Maybe it's a good way to make money."
Two years later he is running Aojin Siamese Crocodile Raising Co Ltd, the city's first crocodile farm.
"I learned how to raise crocodiles from Thailand, Sanya (Hainan Province), and from the Internet as well," said Wang.
Wang spent 600,000 yuan purchasing 200 baby crocodiles from Changzhou of Jiangsu Province last August, after his farm was ready.
He expects they will bring him great profit.
"At present, the market price for crocodile meat is 400 yuan to 600 yuan a kilogram in the country," he said.
Wang says the most important thing to remember when raising crocodiles is safety.
The animals can grow to be four meters long and can become vicious when they are ill or in fear.
"Once I was bit on the finger when injecting a crocodile and got 10 stitches," said Wang.
Despite the possible danger, raising crocodiles is quite easy.
"The crocodiles like eating chicken, duck, fish, or beef occasionally," he said. "They usually have a meal every other morning, about 7am, as they need a long time to digest the last meal."
The meat and bones of Siamese crocodiles are edible and full of protein.
A 330-square-meter breeding shed is now being set up on Wang's two hectares farm, and should be complete by the end of this month, at which point he will hire one more employee.
"I will buy 20 crocodiles this year, just for breeding," he said. "A crocodile may lay roughly 80 eggs every year and half of them may hatch."
Despite the new venture, Wang still runs a trade company he set up in Nanhui District 10 years ago.
"I spent almost all my energy in the trade company before, but now the crocodile farm occupies most of my time," the 37-year-old said.
Wild Siamese crocodiles are indigenous to southeastern Asian countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia. They were first raised in China in 1993, mainly in Guangdong and Hainan provinces.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/10/24/295082/Thailand_trip_inspiration_for_local_crocodile_farm.htm