Croc terror: Businessman abandons remote farm with hundreds of crocodiles endangering the lives of locals
The authorities in Jordan Valley are afraid of an "international incident" for the potential escape of hundreds of crocodiles that were left stranded on a remote farm located at the Israeli border. The animals had been brought to the Jordan Valley about 20 years ago and had been stuck in the farm ever since.
Their numbers have been growing rapidly because they have been left unchecked. The Jordan Valley is an area that separates Israel and the West Bank from Jordan. The reptiles had initially been brought to the area as a part of a tourist attraction in the Petzail settlement that was supposed to be opened. But because of the violence that is now going on between Israelis and Palestinians, the plan was dropped.
Entrepreneur Gadi Biton had immediately jumped into action to take all the crocs and sell them for their skin but by the time 2012 rolled around, it was obvious that he could not do what he wanted.
Israel had passed a law that made the reptile a protected animal and had banned anyone from selling them as meat or merchandise. There have been numerous attempts since then to move the massive crocs abroad but they have been unsuccessful.
The clock is definitely ticking for the animals and they are still stuck on the remote farm, reported Sky News. It is also believed at this point that there could be thousands of animals in the area.
The head of the regional council in the Jordan Valley, David Elhayani, said, "We found ourselves with hundreds of crocodiles in this farm that no one knows what to do with. I don't want to think of what will happen if a crocodile manages to escape and reaches the Jordan River, and then we'll have an international incident. Maybe then someone will wake up and find a quick solution to this problem."
Many efforts that have been made to relocate the animals safely to Cyprus have been denied because of opposition from the locals in the country. But it has been reported that the authorities are eager to take the animals and open up their own tourist attraction along the same lines as the one in the Jordan Valley. For the time being, a lone person has been tasked with feeding the crocodiles every day. The crocs are on a diet of dead chickens at the moment.
In spite of the efforts that their caretaker has made to ensure they are kept happy and healthy, some of the massive animals have managed to escape their home in the past. Crocodiles are believed to live into their 70s in some cases. On one particular occasion, about 70 animals managed to get out of the farm and this launched a desperate three-day hunt to bring them back to the farm.
The Israeli defense body that looks after civilian affairs in the West Bank, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), has said that it is actively trying to find a "practical solution" to the crocodile dilemma with the hope that none of the animals make it to the river. The Jordan River is 156 miles (251km) long and it flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.