Happy days again for snappers

It was an emotional and unlikely reunion ... two months after leaving Bahrain photographer Neil Whichelow last week visited an 18-month-old, two-and-a-half-foot-long Nile crocodile which once lived in his Saar living room.

Surrounded by trees, shrubs and lush grass, the marauding reptile was splashing around in a newly-built pond a stone's throw from the glistening waters of the Gulf. "I'm really happy that he has gone to a good home and is being looked after by someone who respects animals," he said during a brief visit to the kingdom. "He is one lucky crocodile!"

But the crocodile, named Mr Green, narrowly escaped death. Bought from a pet shop in Bahrain for BD20, the then six-inch reptile was rescued from what Mr Whichelow claimed were squalid conditions in a bid to "save its life".

The crocodile, named Mr Green, lived for more than a year in a specially constructed aquarium in the living room of his home, while Mr Whichelow attempted to get it moved to an animal sanctuary.

"I tried to get him into sanctuaries all over the world but it proved extremely difficult and most places were unable, or unwilling, to take him," he explained.

When work commitments forced Mr Whichelow to leave Bahrain, it looked as if the only option would be to have the crocodile put down.

Then, just a week before Mr Whichelow was due to leave, a ray of hope appeared that saved the crocodile from a vet's lethal injection.

Mohammed A Al Khalifa, a staunch animal lover and collector of fish and reptiles, stepped in to save the creature.

"I heard from a friend that Neil had a crocodile that needed a home and I said that I would take him," he said.

The garden of Mr Mohammed's Malkiya home, already teeming with fish and wildlife, provided the perfect sanctuary and work began to create a new habitat for the crocodile.

A large pond was built next to small enclosures separated by low fences that house tortoises, turtles and Japanese Coy fish.

"To start with we kept him with the turtles but they are very vicious and they kept on stealing his food so we moved him," explained Mr Mohammed. "We also had to alter the fence because we discovered that Mr Green could climb up and escape.

"In the beginning he seemed a bit unhappy, but now he has settled in and seems to really like his new home. It takes time to get used to a new place so he is a little shy. But he likes to climb out of the pond, wander around and sit in the sand and watch us."

The crocodile is fed a lavish diet of fresh fish caught by Mr Mohammed plus chicken and other meat.

Caves, fountains and waterfalls will be added to the pond, which should be large enough to accommodate the crocodile for at least four more years, after which another larger pond will be built, said Mr Mohammed.

Nile crocodiles can reportedly grow up to five metres and weigh in at a startling 500kg.

Mr Mohammed added: "I'm so happy that Neil got to see Mr Green again. Hopefully next time he sees him he will have grown and will have an even better habitat."

But few crocodiles bought and sold in Bahrain are as lucky as Mr Green.

"Very few people know how to care for crocodiles or handle them once they reach a certain size," observed Mr Mohammed.

He hopes to rescue others that are at risk of being abandoned by their owners once they become too big and difficult to handle.

"I have the facilities to look after them, and if people can't handle them I will take them," he said.

It appears fewer crocodiles are currently being sold in Bahrain but GulfWeekly was offered one for BD30 in September.

In a previous investigation into the exotic animal trade, GulfWeekly also discovered two fully grown crocodiles living in a tiny enclosure in a Saar pet farm, in addition to two infant crocodiles kept in a fish tank with less than an inch of stagnant water.

Mr Whichelow admits that though he managed to save Mr Green, he strongly advises that others do not try to do the same.