Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A Chinese zoo has set up a telephone hotline to find 13 rare
crocodiles that escaped during floods two weeks ago.
The Benxi Shuidong Crocodile Park, in Liaoning province, is worried
the Siamese crocodiles might die from the cold, the China Daily
newspaper said.
But they could also turn aggressive to humans if they have been
unable to find food, the newspaper warned.
A reward of between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan (£140-£200) has been offered
for each crocodile found.
"They are doomed if we don't find them as soon as possible because
the autumn cold is drawing near," Mai Yingpei, the zoo's manager,
told
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4184612.stm

CHINA DAILY (Beijing) 25 August 05 Fugitive crocodiles at mercy of elements
Beijing: A dozen or so runaway crocodiles from a zoo in Benxi may well run into a spot of bother as the cool northeastern autumn closes in.
The city of Benxi, 800 kilometres northeast of Beijing, was hit by heavy rain early last week. A private crocodile farm near the Taizi River was flooded on August 13 and 29 Siamese crocodiles inside took advantage of the heightened water level to make good their escape.
In the past 10 days, 15 of them have been recovered and taken back to the farm and one has been killed. But 13 of the beasts still remain at large.
The Benxi Shuidong Crocodile Park is a private zoo, which was founded in 2000. It has a total of 31 deadly reptiles with the biggest weighing more than 300 kilograms. Mai Yingpei, manager of the park, said his crocodiles had never run away before.
"They are doomed if we don't find them as soon as possible because the autumn cold is drawing near," said Mai.
Siamese crocodiles live primarily in tropical and sub-tropical regions, according to experts from the Benxi Wildlife Protection Bureau.
The ideal temperature for these reptiles is above 17 C. The current temperature on the Taizi River, however, is between 12 C and 14 C, and it is going to get colder.
To make matters worse, the crocodiles might become more aggressive as they cannot find enough food in the wild, according to a keeper at the farm.
The search has been going on for 10 days and the park has now set up a hotline for people to report stray crocodile sightings.
"Local police forces have been put on alert and will act on any promising leads, " said Wang Yuwei, a local senior police officer.
Fugitive crocodiles at mercy of elements