A DEAD stuffed crocodile has been discovered next to a golf course, leaving animal welfare officers baffled as to how it got there.
Concerned passers-by contacted the Scottish SPCA to say they had spotted a reptile in a stream at Carnwath Golf Course, near Biggar in South Lanarkshire, last month.
Officers initially thought it was a prank but found it was actually a four-and-a-half foot long dead crocodile, which someone had apparently tried to stuff.
The creature was later identified as a West African dwarf crocodile.
The charity says it does not know how old the protected animal was or how it died. Scottish SPCA inspector Heather Lawson said: "I first thought it was a prank when I received a call saying there had been sightings of a crocodile but when I investigated I found it was real. The crocodile was dead and oddly had tape wrapped around its head.
"It seems someone has attempted to stuff the crocodile as it had no insides and there was straw stuck in its legs.
"We found it on May 19 and we've been waiting for identification. We now know it was a West African dwarf crocodile and it's a complete mystery how it got there.
Anyone with information is being urged to contact the SSPCA on 03000 999 999.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article