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Picture taken from www.thupui.blogspot.com

 He attempted to stab the creature with a machete before being dragged under 

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Dicko Toke, a veteran keeper, had fed the creatures for 30 years at Caiman Lake - created artificially by Ivory Coast's founding President Felix Houphouet-Boigny in the early 1980s.

The lake was filled with enormous crocodiles and blessed by animist priests as part of Houphouet-Boigny's drive to turn his home village of Yamassoukrou - then a quiet backwater in the middle of the country - into the capital, replacing Abidjan in the south.

The crocodiles were given names such as "Captain," "Vice-president" and "Parliamentary speaker" and visitors turned up to watch keepers toss live chickens into the lake for the creatures to catch between their giant jaws.

Toke, who was on the cusp of retirement, was killed after posing for photos with the crocodiles for a group of Pakistani UN soldiers, Yamassoukrou's news agency reported.

After the photos had been taken, Toke attempted to leave the shore of the lake, but was grabbed by Captain, one of the largest crocodiles. He attempted to stab the creature with a machete before being dragged under.

Toke is not the first person to be killed by the legendary crocodiles. When Houphouet-Boigny died in 1993, a supporter of the president dived into the lake, screaming that if the leader was dead then he should be too. His body was never recovered.

Comments

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Sat May 25 18:02:53 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 22, 2012

MagakalaaMmatlopo

Shame, this are just wild animals, whatever u do, u must be careful and always remember that this are wild animals u can't tame them forever..
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Aug 22, 2012

RobinH

"famous" ???? Really?
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Aug 22, 2012

1andonlybucs

all they care about is meat..meat. and more meat....
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Aug 22, 2012

Lehido

hehehehehhe....he played with fire....in this case ...Sharp teeth
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Aug 22, 2012

skwamasamabele

Animals know they are held captive, and they respond in kind. I dont feel sorry for anyone who interfere with the freedom of animals. I raised my children on the premise that animals dont belong in cages, and if they wanted a hamster or a bird, I told them to go where these animals live, and I took them there myself
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Aug 22, 2012

Tsar-Rasputin

Thats what friends are for (between the feeder and crocodile), in good times and bad times..................... , for sure thats what friends are for!!!!
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Aug 22, 2012

1andonlybucs

live animals alone in their territory, surely crocodiles know how to hunt on their own..for sure they were getting avoid by fresh delicious meat acting like their owners and took action..look at what happened to that Australian crocodile hunter he died from a sting ray's bite..what was he doing with sting ray's?? lol these people think crocodiles are animals that have time to play picnic with humans.. they are animals..had to the core predators who eat anything meaty!!
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