A police force issued it’s ‘strangest ever appeal’ this week – after someone reported seeing a crocodile dumped in a river.
Officers at Derbyshire Rural Crime Team appealed for clues about a washed-up crocodile in Willington, South Derbyshire, on Thursday.
The team said an onlooker spotted a dead crocodile suspected to have been dumped in the river.
The discovery caused some fear and concern among police staff after the reptile was sighted between bridge 22 and 22a on the Trent and Mersey Canal near Mercia Marina.
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Police arrived at the scene to find the crocodile had disappeared, prompting a public appeal for anyone with information about the creature.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the team wrote: ‘We know this is probably the strangest appeal ever to grace our Facebook page; however, we are appealing for your help in relation to a suspected crocodile that was reported dumped in South Derbyshire.
‘Yes, you read that correctly… a crocodile!
‘We’re going to go out on a limb and guess this little guy isn’t native to Derbyshire and as such, if you can offer any information about the crocodile’s whereabouts now.’
The mystery was solved in less than 24 hours, with the team issuing a ‘surprise’ update confirming the croc was no deceased animal – but was in fact a taxidermized creature stuffed with hay.
In an updated post, the police said: ‘A huge thank you to everyone who shared our recent appeal about the crocodile spotted near a South Derbyshire canal. We can now confirm the mystery has been solved!
‘A member of the public has come forward and explained that the crocodile was a stuffed taxidermy one, filled with hay, and inadvertently caught while fishing.
‘While it gave us all a bit of a surprise, it turns out this one was more fluff than fear!’
The force thanked the public for their cooperation and urged people to remain vigilant because ‘you never know what might turn up next’.
They joked: ‘It’s not every day we get to say we’ve dealt with a crocodile in Derbyshire’.
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