Swedish police find Nile crocodile in greenhouse

Police carrying out a raid in southern Sweden were surprised to discover a two-metre long crocodile living in a residential greenhouse in Malmö. The police were carrying out a raid on a house where the owner was suspected of receiving stolen goods. But it wasn't until officers reached the homeowner's greenhouse that the unusual haul was uncovered.

A two-metre long crocodile, alive and apparently well, was found inside the greenhouse. While police were unable or perhaps unwilling to remove the giant reptile, expert veterinarians were called in to assess the situation. It remains unclear how exactly the crocodile came to be living in a Swedish greenhouse, but the wife of the homeowner said her husband had received the croc as a gift. "My husband has had the crocodile for at least ten years.



"Myself, I would have preferred to use the greenhouse for something else," she said. Experts who have seen police pictures of the crocodile told the paper they are almost certain it is a Nile crocodile. The 40-year-old homeowner, who was keeping the crocodile as a pet, has since been detained by police, who also found a dead crocodile frozen in a freezer on the property. Animal experts, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what to do with the crocodile once it has been confiscated.

"Every confiscated animal gets inspected by vets, who then make a decision about the animal's condition," explained animal inspector Paula Hultgren. "We haven't been able to find any zoos in Sweden that have Nile crocodiles, but there are some in Europe that house this species." When not in Swedish greenhouses, the Nile crocodile is most usually found in sub-Saharan Africa, where it can grow to be up to six metres long. The species, which has been listed by animal protection agency CITES as "threatened with extinction", is the second largest reptile in the world after the saltwater crocodile.