The owners of an Australian crocodile farm have discovered an orthopaedic plate, complete with six steel screws, inside one of their reptiles.
The 15ft long animal, named MJ, recently died.
Staff later opened up the crocodile’s gut to try and determine a cause of death, only to discover the metal plate inside.
“Imagine our surprise when we opened up the gut on this large croc and found what looks to be an orthopaedic plate!” a spokesperson for Koorana Crocodile Farm said on Facebook.
“Recently MJ passed away and in order to find a cause of death we opened up his gut to find the plate in amongst numerous stones he used as gastroliths to help grind up food.”
It is unclear whether the plate came from an animal or a human.
“No staff and no pets are missing here!” the farm added. “So, for now it’s a mystery...
“Regardless he should have been [eating] something with more nutritional value!”
MJ died in June after a fight with another large crocodile at the farm, according to 7 News.
John Lever, the farm’s manager, said the plate was from Switzerland and believed to be quite old.
“It could have been in in the crocodile’s stomach for 45, 50 years,” he said.
Crocodiles have a life span of 60-70 years.
The reptile was captured from the wild in Queensland before living on another farm.
A Koorana spokesperson said its owners had purchased MJ around six years ago.
Mr Lever suspects the plate came from a human.
“That’d be our desire – if we can help solve a cold case,” he said.
“If we could put some minds at rest, it would be absolutely delightful.”
