Mystery of crocodile spotted in River Thames at Reading

A retired university lecturer from Reading has seen what he believes to be a crocodile in the River Thames. Now Richard Smith, 64, wants to know if anyone else has seen one. Mr Smith spotted his croc about 200 yards up river from Reading Rowing Club near Caversham Bridge.

He said: “I was cycling on my own and I saw what I thought was a bough of a tree with four stubby branches on it close in to the bank. As I got closer I saw it was a crocodile. It was about 4ft long. It had a 2ft tail and 2ft body. I got off my bike and ran back to where it was, but it had gone. I ran along the river for about 50 yards, but it wasn’t there any more.”



When asked how he thought a crocodile would survive a British winter, he said: “There are lots of deep holes under the banks along the Thames where it could hibernate.” Crocodile expert Shaun Foggett, director of Crocodiles of the World in Witney, Oxon, said crocodiles would not only not survive an English winter, they would even have difficulties in an English summer because of the cold nights.

He said alligators were a little more “cool tolerant” and could become acclimatised in the summer, but would not survive in winter temperatures. “We get asked about a lot of these sightings and I think it is people letting their imaginations run away with them,” he said. Mr Smith would like to know if anyone else has had a similar sighting along this stretch of the River Thames.