Orthopedic plate found in croc:
An Australian crocodile farmer who found an orthopedic plate inside a croc’s stomach said Thursday that he had been told the surgical device was from a person’s body and had been contacted by relatives of missing people anxious for clues.
Koorana Crocodile Farm owner John Lever found the plate inside a 4.7-meter (15-foot-5-inch) croc called M.J. during an autopsy in June at his business near Rockhampton in Queensland state.
He initially wasn’t sure if the unusual find had been part of an animal or human. But he said since making photos of the plate public, he had been told it was a type used in human surgery.
Lever estimated that M.J. was 50 to 70 years old when he died. M.J. could have eaten the bone that the plate had been attached to by six screws 50 years ago, he said.
All remnants of human tissue attached to the plate had been long digested before M.J. died several months after losing a fight with another croc.
Lever later said that Queensland police had told him they had opened a missing person investigation and asked him to bring the plate to the Rockhampton station on Friday.
A police spokesman told The AP he could not comment.
Lever is continuing to make inquiries in
the hope of discovering what decade the type of plate was used and perhaps who it had belonged to.
“I wouldn’t call it an investigation, we’re making inquiries because we’re fascinated by this whole thing,” Lever said. “Obviously this crocodile has chomped on something and that plate has been left in its stomach complete with screws.”
Lever bought M.J. from a farmer in Innisfail, 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), north of Rockhampton, six years ago. Sometime
earlier, M.J. had been trapped in the wild. Crocodiles are protected in Australia and are only trapped if they are a threat to humans. (AP)
Bid to protect forest:
Malaysia is working on reforms to its decades-old forestry laws, and will consider suggestions from green activists on how to better protect its rain-forests, a minister said on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, hundreds of environmentalists marched on Malaysia’s parliament demanding changes to the constitution and laws to step up punishments for forest-clearing, corruption and pollution.
Organised by environmental group PEKA Malaysia, the demonstrators also called for forest management to be moved to central government control from state level.
Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources, Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, told local media this week that discussions on changing the laws had begun, and he hoped new bills would be presented to parliament by early next year.
“We have to take the suggested amendments to the attorney-general’s office first,” he was quoted as saying by the Free Malaysia Today news website, adding feedback would also be sought from green groups.
One proposed change would likely be for the federal government to request closer cooperation from states, he added. “If the states agree, then it is good for our forests,” he said. A ministry source, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press, confirmed the media report. (RTRS)