A 10.5-foot-long crocodile weighing almost 350 pounds has undergone successful surgery two months after it ate a tourist’s shoe.
The problem started when Anuket, who lives at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida, ate a shoe that fell off a tourist’s foot while they were ziplining over the enclosure in December 2020 where Anuket and his roommate live.
“Our team members observed Anuket swallow the shoe, regurgitate it, and then swallow it again before we were able to retrieve it,” the zoological park said in a statement posted on social media.
Unfortunately, that shoe didn’t emerge where the sun didn’t shine a few days later, promoting the decision to flush the shoe from the crocodile’s stomach.
Scientists at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine were called in to help — but nothing the park or the university did to remove the shoe worked… meaning Anuket needed to have a gastronomy performed on him.
Dr. Adam Biedrzycki got into the croc’s stomach and successfully removed the shoe after all other methods failed.
The zoo had one more thing to say after confirming Anuket was on the road to recovery — don’t eat shoes.