Brothers in Karachi take a walk on the wild side with unusual pet

Rico the crocodile lives in a vivarium at Hamza Hussain’s home in PECHS

KARACHI: When you enter Hamza Hussain's home in PECHS you will be welcomed by a three-foot-long crocodile at the entrance.

Hamza and his brother Hassan have an unusual choice for pets; the brothers collect reptiles.

Last year, the duo imported 75 babies and 25 older pythons from Jay Brewer Prehistoric Pets (a reptile zoo in Fountain Valley, California) to keep as pets. Before that, the brothers had also imported 16 pythons from Oklahoma City, USA. They said importing the snakes has cost them between Rs1.6 to Rs1.7 million.



Their lone crocodile, Rico, lives inside a small vivarium, covered by stones and leaves. The enclosure has a glass wall, allowing people to look in but since the animal seldom moves people often fail to notice its presence. Hamza bought the reptile in 2012. For one year, he said that it was kept at a zoo in Nazimabad. "Now I have again brought him to my home," he said smiling. He added that he believes keeping reptiles in one's home is a blessing.

Semi-tame

Hamza said crocodiles are semi-tame and could possibly harm human beings. He explained that on an average, out of 10 times when he gives Rico meat, he has been attacked six times.



He explained that since reptiles cannot sense their owner or caretaker, they tend to attack. However, according to him the attack would be defensive, not aggressive. "In a defensive attack the crocodile would just bite and leave you," he said and immediately rolled up his sleeves, showing the scar of when Rico bit him near his elbow. He said that when crocodiles attack and devour an animal, their teeth break, which grow again in four to six days.

How to handle it?

It is A bit tricky and risky to handle Rico. Hamza takes Rico out of the vivarium by holding his neck and tail firmly. Rico snorts angrily, opens his mouth wide and then is unable to move. "The neck and tail of a crocodile are its weak points," explained Hamza, adding that if you have gripped those (neck and tail) tightly the reptile will not harm you. The tail of a seven-foot long reptile, according to him, can easily fracture a human's hand.

Meat lover

He said that when Rico was young, he used to eat mincemeat. Now, he said Rico devours at least 1.5 kilogrammes of meat a week. "Most of the time I give him boneless and chicken neck meat," he explained, adding that every alternate day they give him meat. A large crocodile, he said, eats four to five kilogrammes of meat every two days.



Hamza's passion for reptiles one day took him to the pet market in Empress Market. There, he said he saw one of the shopkeepers had a tiny crocodile with him, which the shopkeeper assumed was a lizard. Since Hamza had a keen interest in reptiles he immediately recognised Rico as a crocodile and purchased him from the shopkeeper in Rs1,000. "The shopkeeper used to give Rico cockroaches to eat," he said with a disgusted look on his face.



According to Hamza, it is illegal to sell crocodiles in pet markets. He said that he obtained a licence from the Sindh Wildlife department to keep Rico at his home, which he gets renewed every year.

Meanwhile, Dr Ansar Rizvi of the University of Karachi's zoology department pointed out that crocodiles cannot survive in a small vivarium. "It needs a huge space for movement and a lot of water to survive," he said, adding that it was very dangerous to keep even a small crocodile at home.

The bigger ones can be very destructive, according to him, and for the smaller ones like Rico, he said that it has the power to injure a human easily.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2016.