Underwatertimes.com News Service - April 11, 2007 17:00 EST
A vet's torn arm in the jaws of a crocodile at a zoo in southern Taiwan. Photo: AFP
Taiwan --
Police in Taiwan were forced to shoot a crocodile after it bit off the arm of the zoo veterinarian treating it, an official said on Wednesday.
Dramatic television footage showed a police officer firing on the animal to wrest the severed limb from its jaws.
Chang Po-yu, 38, from the southern Kaohsiung city's Shou Shan Zoo, was injecting the sick crocodile with anaesthetic when it attacked him.
He was said to be in a stable condition after being rushed to hospital for an emergency operation to re-attach his arm, an local official said, although it was not immediately clear whether Chang would recover.