THE END OF SIFIS THE CROCODILE

SIFIS the crocodile that had taken up residence in a reservoir near Rethymno in Crete has sadly been found dead.

  The crocodile who is thought to have once been a pet that had been released when he grew too large, was first spotted last summer by somewhat dumbfounded municipal workers. He rapidly became a local celebrity drawing tourists and locals alike eager to catch a glimpse of the reptile.

  While the cause of his death remains unknown it is considered likely that the reptile failed to survive the Cretan winter which this year was particularly harsh.

  After he was first sighted, a committee was established to monitor and capture Sifis and rehome him in a zoo. However the crocodile evaded all of the traps set for him.

  Since mid-February those involved in the effort had lost track of Sifis. Efforts were made to track him over the past month but hopes that he had found some form of shelter were dashed when Sifis’s lifeless body was spotted floating in the lake.

  A team including researchers from the Museum of Natural history and the herpetologist Petros Limberakis will attempt to recover the body and examine it to determine Sifis’s cause of death.  The examination will also answer other questions about the crocodile that have perplexed experts since he was first spotted in the reservoir.