Crocodile Expert Investigates Sighting
A Crocodile expert has been to investigate claims of a sighting of a
metre-long reptile at a Swansea lake.
Police and RSPCA officers were at Pluck Lake opposite Morrisons in
Morfa on Sunday after receiving a report of a crocodile or alligator
there.
Gwilym Games, a member of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, has since
been there to try to hunt down the creature.
"I went down to the locality to see what I could find out.
"There have been quite a few reports of these crocodiles in different
lakes in the UK.
"Nobody has ever found these crocodiles but because of the number
found illegally it is not impossible.
"Looking at the lake there are a number of reed beds.
"Most of the crocodiles kept as pets are Caimans, which are nocturnal
animals.
"If it is cold they will go under the mud and stay down there and go
into semi-hybernation.
"If one has gone down there it could be just sitting there.
"It's going to be difficult to capture because it is nocturnal and I
suspect that unless the weather improves it will die because they are
used to the tropical climate."
He said there were various reports of people looking after Caiman.
"People dump dogs and if they have got Caiman, which start small and
grow to up to five feet, it is definitely not impossible you will find
them in there."
The caller who raised the alert at around noon on Sunday was certain
the creature was a crocodile and said it was about one metre long.
A police spokesman said: "We went down and had a look. It is cold, and
if it was a genuine call it could be an escaped pet - it's not beyond
the bounds of imagination."
He said experts had told them that if a crocodile or alligator was out
in the current temperatures, it could be lurking under the water.
He added: "It's best not to go swimming."
This is South Wales: 30th April 2008
