The crocodile of Crete, the famous Sifis is dead. He was found lifeless in the dam lake of the Rivers in Amari on Sunday afternoon. According to first estimations, the cutie did not manage to survive the harsh winter that stroke Crete in the last months. Sifis was the Cretans named him has been allegedly laying dead in the lake waters for the last ten days.
“We haven’t seen him since February 14th,” Vaggelis Mamagkakis from Crete Development Organization told news website NewsIt.gr adding that it was the last time they tried to capture him.
The crocodile was first spotted last July in the artificial lake of the Potami dam in Amari plain in the Rethymnon prefecture.
Video: Crocodile Sifis filmed by drone/ 7. July 2014
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Several efforts to capture him and bring him to a safe environment have failed.
Famous Crocodile Dundees from abroad like Olivier Behra and Ervin Moser traveled to Crete and help catch the reptile. But Sifis wouldn’t bite the chickens in the traps.
He swam happily around through out the months when the lake waters were still warm. But the reptile was native to tropics and not the Cretan plains.
Sunday afternoon, the crocodile was found dead by a dam guard. “He did not bear sings of injuries, most probably he died due to the cold and the heavy winter,” Mamagkakis said.
His corpse is been currently recovered and is to be transferred to the Natural History Museum of Crete where scientists will examine the causes of his death but also other important clues like sex and age.
Sifis appeared in the dam lake in July 2014 out of the blue. It has been alleged that his owner had abandoned him there when he grew too big to be kept in a private facility. His owner was never found, although media reported that neighbors and friends certainly knew him but kept their mouths shut in the old Cretan traditions of omerta. Should the owner be found the animal protection law could charge him with a nice and juicy fine.
The crocodile soon became an attraction with many tourists flocking to the lake trying to catch a view of the famous animal.
Sifis was the only crocodile who lived in free environment in Europe, even for a very short time.
R.I.P. Sifis, the victim of human stupidity 🙁 🙁 🙁
According to the information you give about banks, Troika, ECB, etc. saying that “Sifis was the only crocodile who lived in free environment in Europe”is false. 😉
we are also an animal loving blog.
but you love to read false info, right?
The last info is false indeed: The crocodile Sifis (Cretan for Joseph) is not the first to make an unexpected appearance in European waters. In 2001, fire officers in Austria were called to rescue a South American crocodile from the Danube, which was later taken to a Vienna zoo.
sorry, folks, Greek media said so. The crocodile in Austria probably did not manage to live that long in European freedom.