DAILY NEWS (Cape Town, S Africa) 21 May 03 Crocs bite back at the hand that feeds them (Keith Ross)
Hand-feeding baby crocodiles can be a risky business and it is best to "count your fingers" after each meal, say the nurses at Durban's Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow).
The Crow nurses say baby crocodiles are natural and lively snappers, and are likely to remove a piece of the hand that feeds them.
The nurses have learned the hard way. They have been hand-feeding 10 baby crocodiles for the past two months.
"The crocs were not too bad at first, but they soon changed from cute to vicious.
"At first they needed a lot of attention, but they have now reached a stage where they can feed themselves," said Crow's public relations officer, Vanessa Massyn.
Crow's director, Helena Fitchat, said she was rearing the crocodiles for the Milimani Game Reserve in northern Zululand.
"Milimani had too many babies and the game reserve is not really in the business of rearing crocodiles.
"Some of the babies died and the others were not strong. The 10 we took were all runts. They looked more like geckos than crocodiles," she said.
Fitchat said the baby crocodiles had made rapid progress since arriving at Crow.
"They are now really strong and they snap like crazy. They are real little demons," she said.
Fitchat said the crocodiles would remain at Crow until they were a reasonable size - for a year to 18 months - and then be returned to Milimani.
She said Nile crocodiles, such as these, could grow to 5m and weigh up to 500kg.
Crocs bite back at the hand that feeds them