2024-03-01 21:58:07
Workers at a zoo in the US state of Nebraska last week removed 70 coins from the stomach of one of the alligators there. Visitors threw them into the enclosure and the staff then discovered them in the reptile’s body during a routine check. The news company BBC drew attention to the case.
The Omaha Zoo announced that it had found the coin in the body of its “iconic resident”. That’s what she called a 36-year-old alligator named Thibodeaux, who has white skin and blue eyes due to a rare disorder. He apparently arranged the small discarded visitors between individual cleanings of the paddock.
Zoo workers then found them when all 10 local alligators underwent a routine checkup, which in Thibodeaux’s case revealed “foreign metal objects in the stomach.” Veterinarians put the animal to sleep and inserted a plastic tube into its body, through which they delivered a camera and other instruments to its stomach. The coins were removed and the alligator has since returned to its home.
Veterinarian Christina Ploog, who led the operation, told the public that the coins are dangerous for animals because they may contain harmful chemicals. The zoo urged visitors not to throw them into the water tanks.
Video: Dad, there’s an alligator in the garden. Courageous veteran with trash can on nets wows crowds (30/09/2021)
The daring capture of the alligator was filmed by chanting neighbors. | Video: Youtube/Roy Bonilla