Russia is not a place to meet crocodiles in the wild, but this week, one specimen was fished out of the Kuban River in the southern Krasnodar region — dead.
The reptile was discovered by employees of a local rowing club who were cleaning up after a race, Interfax reported Tuesday, citing a club representative.
The 1.2-meter-long crocodile was apparently dead for some time because its hide was "damaged by rats," the representative was cited as saying.
The animal is apparently the same that was spotted by rowers in Kuban back in August. A hunt was launched at the time, but produced no results.
The cause of the croc's death remains unclear. Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Yevlanov called in August to capture it alive, name it and hand it over to a local zoo.
No explanation was offered for why the crocodile appeared in Krasnodar.
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