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A police helicopter in Thuringia is looking for the crocodile over the Unstrut
Photo: WichmannTV / DPA
Is there a crocodile in the Unstrut?
At the end of August, several witnesses in Saxony-Anhalt stated that they had seen a crocodile in the Unstrut.
A large manhunt followed, including a bathing ban in the area, the water police were on duty, the fire brigade, the veterinary office.
In the end, however, the search was stopped without any results.
But now the animal could have appeared in Thuringia: A horse owner stated that she had seen a crocodile on the Unstrut near Schönewerda in Thuringia.
As a result, fire fighters have been searching the river bank since Sunday noon, said the Nordhausen-Kyffhäuserkreis rescue control center.
The county issued a public warning.
Fire department head of operations Marcel Thomann told the MDR Thuringia that the sighting was being taken seriously.
The woman reported that the animal lay on the bank with its mouth open and then slipped into the water.
The animal was at least two meters long.
The fire brigade closed locks and also used a drone to search.
The Unstrut and the cycle path on the river have been closed.
"Crocodiles can jump several meters out of the water at lightning speed"
According to the MDR, several fire brigades are searching 20 kilometers of the river bank for the animal, they said they found crocodile tracks near Roßleben.
A police helicopter and a drone are also in use.
The Kyffhäuserkreis called on day trippers to stay away from the river and to avoid the cycling and hiking trails in the bank area.
According to the latest reports from Thuringia, the Burgenland district has now closed a lock again.
The population was asked to cease bathing and boat operations on the Unstrut in the Burgenland district until further notice.
Oliver Wings from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg told the dpa news agency that a crocodile had a relatively good chance of survival in the river - and could theoretically get as far as Hamburg with the current of the rivers.
As a cold-blooded animal, it can adapt to temperatures of more than 20 degrees as well as in the single-digit range and feed on fish and ducks.
"Although crocodiles are actually shy of humans, they are dangerous animals. They appear slow, but can jump several meters out of the water at lightning speed," said the scientist.
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mst / dpa