University of Florida veterinarians surgically removed a shoe that had been swallowed twice by the same hungry crocodile, the school said.
The 10.5-foot Nile crocodile, Anuket, named Anuket, devoured the seemingly nice shoes in December when it fell from a zipper in St. Louis. Medicine in Gainesville.
Witnesses saw Anuket digest the shoe, let it go up again and then swallow it again, the college said.
“If the shoe fits you.… Swallow it?” said the school in a Facebook post. “Not a good idea!”
The 6.5 Walmart ladies’ shoe was made of synthetic materials, meaning it could not be digested and would have remained inside Anuket and blocked the passage from the stomach to the intestines, according to Gen Anderson, general curator at St. Louis. .
“If it were leather sandals, it would have been a very different ball game,” Anderson told NBC News on Tuesday.
Without surgery, the crocodile would have had a very slow death, ‘she added.
After Anuket was brought to the University of Florida on February 5, veterinarians tried various less invasive methods to push the shoe out of the animal, without any luck.
According to the school, they eventually had to do a gastrotomy that allowed easier access to the crocodile’s stomach.
“Within a short time he was able to remove the shoe,” the school said. “After an overnight stay, Anuket returned home and has been recovering in the park ever since.”
According to Anderson, Anuket is at least 34 years old and is expected to live between 60 and 80 years.
Ali Gostanian contributed.