The frozen crocodile I bought back home came back to life? Is it really not illegal to eat crocodiles?

Recently, a short video went viral on the Internet: a blogger bought a frozen crocodile from Hema, and after one cut, the crocodile actually shook its head and tail and "resurrected"?

The "frozen" crocodile I bought home was resurrected?

Can frozen crocodiles really be revived? Is it illegal for platforms to sell crocodiles for human consumption?

A freshwater tyrant, once "extinct"

The crocodile in the video is called the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis), which is native to Indonesia, Brunei, eastern Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It lives in slow-flowing rivers, lakes and swamps.

This is a medium-sized crocodile, which can reach 2.1 meters in length and weigh 40 to 70 kilograms when it is just an adult. Female crocodiles can grow up to 3.2 meters in length and 150 kilograms in weight, while larger male crocodiles can reach 4 meters in length and weigh up to 350 kilograms. Like other crocodiles, Siamese crocodiles are also absolute "carnivores". In the wild, they mainly feed on fish, water snakes, frogs and small mammals. They are the tyrants of freshwater.

Siamese crocodile in Moscow Zoo | Rigelus / Wikimedia Commons

However, due to habitat destruction and historical overhunting, the number of wild Siamese crocodiles has become extremely rare. In 1992, the Siamese crocodile was thought to be extinct; it was not until 2002 that a very small number of remaining individuals were found in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Indonesia. Currently, only a few hundred wild Siamese crocodiles remain in protected areas. They are an extremely endangered species with a living condition as miserable as that of the national treasure Chinese alligator.

Therefore, wild Siamese crocodiles must not be purchased or eaten. Siamese crocodile foods and products on the market basically come from artificial breeding farms.

A gentle creature in the farm

Siamese crocodiles are easy to breed artificially, and their place of origin has a long history of artificial breeding of Siamese crocodiles.

A Siamese crocodile farm in Cambodia | August Dominus / Wikimedia Commons

Every year from April to May, which is the rainy season in their native habitat, female Siamese crocodiles will dig holes on the shore to lay eggs, and can lay 15 to 50 eggs at a time. Female crocodiles are conscientious mothers. After laying eggs, they will guard the nest and stay there until the baby crocodiles hatch. Then they will gently pick up the baby crocodiles with their staggered sharp teeth and terrifying bloody mouths and bring them to the water. If the baby crocodiles are weak and have difficulty hatching, the female crocodiles will even gently pick up the eggs with their mouths and carefully break the eggshells to help the baby crocodiles hatch.

Compared with other common farmed crocodile species such as the saltwater crocodile and the Nile crocodile, the Siamese crocodile is less aggressive. Wild saltwater crocodiles and Nile crocodiles are known for eating people, but there are currently only four confirmed records of wild Siamese crocodiles attacking humans, and no records of fatalities. In two of the incidents, the Siamese crocodiles attacked humans in self-defense or to protect their young, and in the other case, humans attacked first. In an environment like a farm, crocodiles are kept in high density, and saltwater crocodiles frequently attack each other due to their strong territoriality; but Siamese crocodiles are more tolerant and rarely attack their own kind.

The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest living reptile | Molly Ebersold / St. Augustine Alligator Farm

In addition, Siamese crocodiles have a certain tolerance to low temperatures and are relatively easy to raise and manage. At present, there are more than 700,000 farmed Siamese crocodiles in Southeast Asia alone; in my country, farms that breed Siamese crocodiles are also very common in the southeast and southwest regions with warm climates. The Siamese crocodiles sold on the market for food and leather are basically from farms; as long as the seller has complete legal documents, you can buy them with confidence.

Siamese crocodile resurrection? Not likely

What scares many people is that the "frozen" crocodile that was bought home in the video actually came back to life! Is this true?

In fact, reptiles can indeed be resurrected, but the Siamese crocodiles sold on the platform generally do not.

Some cold-blooded animals have the habit of hibernating; moreover, reptiles often appear "dead but not stiff" due to their low metabolism. News such as "severed snake heads biting people" are not fictional.

Siamese crocodiles living in warm areas have limited tolerance to low temperatures. | Rlevse / Wikimedia Commons

However, Siamese crocodiles live in tropical and subtropical areas. Although they can rely on hibernation to reduce metabolism to survive the colder months, their ability to tolerate low temperatures is still quite limited. In most areas of my country, Siamese crocodiles need to be heated in winter to ensure that the temperature difference between the water temperature and the air temperature in the crocodile breeding pool is not too large, otherwise the Siamese crocodiles are likely to suffer from pneumonia, indigestion and other diseases or even die. Therefore, if they are suddenly placed in a freezer below zero degrees, the Siamese crocodile will quickly lose heat and die, and there is no chance of reviving.

Hema’s official account also issued a clarification on Weibo that the Siamese crocodiles sold by Hema are frozen after the internal organs are removed, and under normal circumstances there is absolutely no possibility of resurrection.

Image | Weibo: @Hema

Be sure to purchase from formal and legal channels!

In my country, there are three types of crocodiles that are allowed to be used for commercial purposes: Siamese crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles, and Nile crocodiles. They are all artificially bred aquatic wild animals under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Fisheries, and relevant certificates and complete procedures are required to legally breed, breed and sell them.

The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is Africa's largest reptile | Derek Ramsey / Wikimedia Commons

Among these farmed crocodiles, the Siamese crocodile is one of the most commonly used species for meat. Almost the entire Siamese crocodile is edible, and the muscle meat in the tail is the best. Crocodile meat has a high protein content, low fat content, mild taste and chewy texture, and can be grilled, fried, smoked, braised...

Farmers usually crossbreed Siamese crocodiles with saltwater crocodiles, which produce offspring that grow faster and have better leather quality. After several years of breeding, commercial crocodiles are caught and put on the market when they reach 1.2 to 1.5 meters in length and 6 to 12 kilograms in weight. The skin of Siamese crocodiles can be made into leather, especially the abdominal skin that lacks intradermal bone and membrane bone plates. Because the abdominal skin is soft, Siamese crocodiles are also commonly known as "soft belly" in their place of origin.

Siamese crocodile in a zoo | SuperJew / Wikimedia Commons

However, I would like to emphasize again that, whether for the survival of the Siamese crocodile population or for your own health, you must not eat wild Siamese crocodiles! Do not buy wild Siamese crocodile products! If you want to try this unpopular food, you must buy it from formal and legal channels.

Author: Black-scaled cockscomb snake

Editor: Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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