Crocodile Finally Freed From Tire Stuck Around Her Neck After 5 Years
The female saltwater crocodile has been rescued after living with a wheel tire around her neck for over half a decade.
A wild crocodile in Indonesia who has had a motorcycle tire stuck around her neck for more than five years, has finally been freed and released back into the wild.
The female saltwater crocodile was first spotted with the tire wrapped around her neck near the country's Palu River in 2016. Since then, conservation workers have tried to rescue the growing reptile amidst fears that the tire may eventually choke her.
In 2020, Australian crocodile wrangler Matthew Wright and American wildlife biologist Forrest Galante attempted to free the reptile, but both were unsuccessful.
Then, in January 2022, a local resident, 35-year-old Tili, who had recently moved to the area, heard about the animal from his neighbors. He became motivated to help the crocodile after regularly spotting her sunbathing at an estuary close by.
Tili, a birdcatcher, used bait and ropes to snare the animal after a three-week rescue mission. Two of his friends then helped to bring the 17ft crocodile to shore, where the group sawed through the tire to remove it from around her neck.
“I have experiences and skills in catching animals, not only birds, but farm animals that are released from the cage,” Tili, who goes by a single name, told The Associated Press. “I believe I can rescue the crocodile with my skills.”
The crocodile was released back into the water after the rescue.
Although it is not clear how the motorcycle tire got stuck around the crocodile neck, conservationists suspect that it was likely put in the river in a failed attempt to trap the animal as a pet or for the skin trade.
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