Crocodile alert in river?
Specialist evaluates video recordings
Created: 06/23/2022, 16:57
A caller reports a crocodile in the Main near Hanau.
A professional will help to clarify the case.
Update from Thursday, June 23, 4:45 p.m .:
The police gave
Hessischer Rundfunk
(
hr
) more details about the crocodile search on Wednesday (June 22) near Hanau, as reported by op-online.de.
Accordingly, the concerned caller had made a video, which, due to the poor quality, could not be ruled out that a reptile was actually on the move in the Main.
"Even if it sounds like a joke, of course we have to take such reports seriously first," said police spokesman Thomas Leipold on Thursday (June 23) to
hr
.
Said and done.
And so the emergency services also turned on an amphibian expert from the Frankfurt Zoo in parallel to their extensive search.
"Even if it sounds like a joke, of course we have to take such reports seriously at first."
Police spokesman Thomas Leipold on Thursday at hr
Expert Johannes Köhler evaluated the images.
He came to the conclusion that the police finally accepted after a fruitless search: the supposed crocodile was probably a harmless beaver.
Even if it was a small crocodile, it would be harmless and hardly dangerous, said Köhler to the
hr
.
However, he considers the residual risk of a predator in the river in Hanau to be very low.
Suspected crocodile in Hanau: An emergency call triggered a reptile search there on Wednesday (June 22).
First report from Thursday, June 23, 2022:
Hanau – A crocodile allegedly swimming in the Main triggered a police operation in Hanau.
According to the Bavarian police in Aschaffenburg on Thursday (June 23), an emergency call was received on Wednesday evening (June 22) that the alleged crocodile was swimming in the direction of Bavaria.
Hessian officials then searched the area around Hanau with a helicopter and boats for around an hour.
However, on the basis of video recordings by witnesses, it quickly became apparent that the animal was not a crocodile, but probably just a large beaver, according to the police.
A crocodile in the Main near Hanau?
This suspicion has not been confirmed.
Our photo comes – of course – from the newspaper archive.
(symbol image) © dpa/archive
also read
Anger over rent for Ukraine refugees - landlord pissed off
Two dead children in Hanau: Fugitive suspect is said to have announced that "something bad" was happening
Supposed crocodile sighting in Hanau: Last case in 2020 in Wetterau
Supposed sightings of crocodiles occur every few years - almost traditionally in summer.
In Hesse, the most recent case from 2020 comes to mind immediately, when a photo from the Wetterau caused a stir.
Most likely, however, the picture only showed a rubber doll modeled on one of the reptiles.
Only those who dig deep in the archive will find the story of “Ali” there.
The alligator actually escaped from a reptile show in 2010, only to walk through Frankfurt.
A year later there is also a crocodile story from south-east Hesse: In 2011 a crocodile skin was found in Hanau, the origin of which was initially a mystery - but ultimately had a logical explanation.
(dpa/ag)
