FIGHT TO THE DEATH

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1929, Page 11

FIGHT TO THE DEATH

- ALLIGATOR AND CROCODILE. NIGHT ATTACK IN ZOO. Georgia, the 90-year-old Mississippi alligator of the London Zoo, who hae the distinction of being the largest inhabitant of the crocodile pool in the new reptile house, has celebrated the centenary of the society by adding a third name to his list of victims.

George has had a singularly chequered career. In the old reptile house ho shared the central pool with two other slightly smaller companions of the same species and a crocodile cousin from the Old World. For several years they all liv\ I together in comparative harmony, each in his own special corner of the pond. With the coming of old age, however, George’s temper became increasingly uncertain, and after a few preliminary rounds, he “polished off” his smaller brethren, and as a result was condemned to solitary confinement soon after he was transferred to the new house.

In the meantime cousin crocodile had also developed a hasty temper, and had succeeded in inflicting severe wounds on some other smaller fry who shared his pool. The upshot of this was that, space being limited, he was put in with George, as he wae considered able to look after himself.

The wily old George, however, proved too much for him ,and lie met the same fate ag the other two, with the result that George once more reigns alone and supreme.

No one has ever actually seen the way in which George manages to vanquish his foes, as his deadly attacks are always made during the night. His victory over the crocodile w’as undoubtedly due to his superior weight, as his adversary was by far the more agile of the two, and had a better set of teeth.

The last time George “weighed-in,” which was when he was moved to the new house in 1927, he turned the scale at 3cwt. His latest victim weighed considerably less than this. In this respect large reptiles are deceptive, for to the eye they appear to weigh much more than they really do. It is surprising to find, for instance, that the largest of the Zoo’s python, measuring over 20ft. in length, only weighs a little more than lewt. In the alligators and crocodiles the weight is mainly in the tail, which is a muscular organ of extreme strength and is used by the animal both in defence and attack.