Crocodile drops on nuclear city street

[AFP, 8 August] A pet crocodile fell from a 12th storey apartment window onto the pavement below in the Russian town of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod province, birthplace of the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapons and home to the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre. The one-metre caiman crocodile, although stunned, was unharmed except for losing a tooth. The crocodile has been kept at the apartment for the past 15 years. Neighbours said it was the third time that the crocodile, reportedly named Khenar, had tried to escape out of the window. Emergency services and rescuers managed to lasso the animal and take it to a local aquarium. Its owner, who was not at home at the time, later came to collect him. The crocodile was last seen lying on the back seat of his owner's car.