Veterinarian Chang’s forearm reattached

Doctors at the Kaohsiung Medical University hospital labored for six hours to save the arm of Chang, who remains under observation at the hospital.

The next two weeks will be a critical observation period for Chang, which will show whether or not his arm can function, doctors said.

If Chang survives the next two weeks, doctors said that one year of rehabilitation and physical therapy will be needed for Chang to recover eighty percent of his arm functions.

Chang appeared to be in good spirits yesterday as Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu visited him at the hospital.

The Kaohsiung city government will shoulder the entire cost of Chang’s medical treatment.

Wednesday’s crocodile attack was the second animal attack at the Shou Shan Zoo in a month after a gorilla at the zoo bit the finger of a four-year-old boy on March 11, upon which the boy was transported to a Kaohsiung hospital where stitches were applied.

Zoo officials said that they have sealed off the area surrounding the crocodile’s enclosure but people have been able to cross the barrier to take pictures of the crocodile yesterday.

Officials were surprised to find yesterday that the Nile crocodile survived two gun shots fired by police officers on Wednesday to free Chang’s arm from the crocodile’s mouth.

Zoo workers found the crocodile shaking its tail and turning its head when prodded by the workers’ stick.

The crocodile turned it head and bit Chang when the veterinarian was trying to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the crocodile’s skin to treat the ailing reptile which had not been eating for a month.

Taipei Zoo spokesman Chin Shih-chien warned veterinarians and zoo workers to take care when anesthetizing crocodiles with tranquilizer darts through the reptile’s thick skin.

Chin said that zoo workers usually physically constrain crocodiles before treating them by tying up the crocodile’s mouth with rope extended from a stick, covering the reptile’s eyes with cloth, and then having four or five people sit on the back of the crocodile.

Meanwhile, a man who has been privately raising crocodiles for thirty-two years, named Chiu Shi-he, said that as crocodiles have side vision, people should avoid standing on the reptile’s side.

Yesterday, animal conservation groups voiced their concern over the Shou Shan Zoo’s treatment of its animals, saying that the zoo has a reputation of poor management.

An animal conservation group supervisor Chen Yu-min said that investigations have found that the Shou Shan Zoo placed its Alaskan Brown Bear, which is accustomed to cold climates, on heat inducing concrete floors, causing the bear to lose its fur.

Chen said that the zoo also encloses its lions on low ground, which is not suitable for the African animal which is accustomed to higher ground.

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