The corpse of what appears to be a crocodile has been found on a pavement in Liverpool, sparking theories about how it got there.
A woman who was leaving work on Wednesday night spotted the body of the reptile and initially thought it was a tree branch, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Then she thought it was a child's toy, before realising the creature blocking her path was actually a dead croc.
The gruesome find was made in Fazakerley, close to Aintree Hospital and the Walton Centre.
A resident said: "I was walking with my boyfriend on Lower Lane, about to turn onto Longmoor Lane, and didn't really take any notice of it.
"I thought it was maybe a branch or something but as we got closer he said: 'That's a crocodile,' but I told him it couldn't be.
"We got closer and I could see all the features and colour and scales so assumed it was maybe a teddy, but we got right up to it and you could seen its bones and teeth."
By the time she spotted it, the corpse was hacked in two.
"Some people think that maybe someone kept it as a pet and it got too big, so they've let it out and it has died.
"Or maybe it has escaped from somewhere."
Under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, people in the UK must have a licence to keep dangerous wild animals such as crocodiles.
Given the lack of blood, it could just be a stuffed crocodile that's been dumped.
