14 DAY TRIAL // A 100-year-old crocodile living in captivity in Bangladesh passed away after feasting on one too many chickens and goats and growing seriously obese. When found, the reptile was simply floating in its pond, plump belly up.
Oddly enough, it looks like this reptile was not the first to die of obesity in this corner of the world. On the contrary, it is understood that, not long before it got sick and died, the reptile lost its three pond companions to the same condition.
How does a crocodile become obese?
Just like humans, crocodiles risk putting on too much weight for their own good when they eat a lot and they exercise too little. Seeing how it was kept in captivity, this reptile did not get to go for a swim all that often.
As for all the food it ate to become obese, it appears that the chickens and the goats that ultimately killed it were all knowingly and purposely offered to him by people visiting the Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali Shrine in Bangladesh.
40-year-old Mohammed Sarwar, whose job was to look after the reptile and its companions, says that the reason people kept offering the crocodile food was that they wanted to get in its good graces and have it bless them.
That's right, the chickens and the goats were all sacrifices. The more good luck people thought they needed to overcome life's struggles, the fatter the goats and the birds that they offered this crocodile and its friends were.
“We were aware of the problem, but we were not sure what to do about it,” Mohammed Sarwar explained in an interview. “The legend is that anybody who feeds the hunger of the crocodiles will have their heart's desire fulfilled,” he added, as cited by Metro.
There was a whole ritual to feeding the reptile
Seeing how the lifeless goats and chickens were meant as sacrifices, people did not simply toss them inside the crocodile's enclosure. Instead, they were gently placed on the ground. Afterwards, priests would bang on a gong to let the reptile know that it was time to eat some more.
Judging by the photo below, there is no doubt that this crocodile in Bangladesh was indeed obese at the time of its death. Then again, it might be that there is another, less dramatic explanation for its death.
If it is true that the reptile was 100 years old when it died, as many people claim, it could be that its age had a say in the matter as well. Thus, according to recent studies, crocodiles have a life expectancy of about 70 to 100 years. Otherwise put, this reptile was probably kind of, sort of running on fumes, obesity or no obesity.
