Photo of crocodile with severed arm

Posted by David Pescovitz, December 17, 2007 9:27 AM | permalink

Seen here is a portion of one of the "Best AFP Photos 2007," taken in southern Taiwan on April 11, 2007. Apparently, the arm once belonged to a veterinarian tending to the crocodile.
Link (Thanks, Mike Love!)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by semiotix , December 17, 2007 9:31 AM

I think I've been spending too much time on the internet, because the first thing I thought of when I saw this incredible picture was OM NOM NOM NOM.

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#2 posted by Xeno , December 17, 2007 9:34 AM

I hate to say this but that picture is phot shopped. The lighting on the hand is completely different from that on the croc and the hand also does not cast a shadow on the ground; you will notice that the crocs jaw casts a shadow but not the hand.

The AFP seems to have been duped.

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#3 posted by Beanolini , December 17, 2007 9:37 AM

Apparently, the vet had his arm reattached, and the crocodile survived being shot at by zoo employees during retrieval of the arm- so a surprisingly happy ending all round...

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#4 posted by DGHilton , December 17, 2007 9:40 AM

Looks fake, but the satisfied expression on the croc's face would be hard to Photoshop...

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#5 posted by Wingo , December 17, 2007 9:41 AM

Ahhhh! 'Shopped or not, that is disturbing. I demand a Unicorn Chaser!!

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#6 posted by pennydreadful , December 17, 2007 9:47 AM

I agree I need a quick chaser as well

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#7 posted by felsby , December 17, 2007 9:48 AM

I got some more photos from the incident. They do not appear to be manipulated. Also, the shadow of the hand is clearly seen.

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#8 posted by Dave X

, December 17, 2007 9:50 AM

Actually, this is just a trick to get the croc to take its meds-- hide them in a human hand.

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#9 posted by Marie , December 17, 2007 9:53 AM

That was a pleasant lunch time find....

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#10 posted by DCE , December 17, 2007 9:53 AM

That's an awfully gory photo to see in the morning.

You wouldn't be deliberately setting up a chaser, would you?

Regardless, I need one. The hand doesn't bother me so much, but the dangly fleshy bits . . . eesh.

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#11 posted by teuthis , December 17, 2007 9:59 AM

What's so great about this photo, really? No glitter? No boobies? No unicorns?

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#12 posted by Christopher J Olsen

, December 17, 2007 10:03 AM

"The lighting on the hand is completely different from that on the croc"

Um, not really.

"...and the hand also does not cast a shadow on the ground; you will notice that the crocs jaw casts a shadow but not the hand."

The crocodile's head is resting on a piece of rock that may not be entirely even on the surface, which would make shadows cast unevenly. Furthermore, the lighting does not appear to be hard and direct. Heavily defined shadows would only be really appearant in that atmosphere if the object blocking the light was very close to the other surface (in this case the floor/stone). The arm and hand are up a good few inches and though they're sticking out of the teeth, are still tight in to the animal's face.

I'm not saying it's not Photoshopped, I'm just saying those reasons are hardly conclusive proof that it was.

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#13 posted by jonathan_v , December 17, 2007 10:09 AM

um, yeah... this really calls for a unicorn chaser

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#14 posted by gabrielhl , December 17, 2007 10:55 AM

It's not photoshop. There are more pictures of this around several newspapers. This isn't a "new" photo, it was all over the news when it happenned.
Here's a gallery for those interested:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/apr/12/internationalnews?picture=329776192

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#15 posted by Archipictor , December 17, 2007 10:57 AM

Oh! I love it when these "It´s FAKE! Totally Photoshopped!" people start their rant. Most likely they have never even used the software. They burst their veins trying to explain what faults there are when actually they are just seeing real picture. And I second what #13 says.

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#16 posted by cinemajay , December 17, 2007 10:59 AM

Why is it the media is so quick to pounce on virtual game violence, but they have no compunction about publishing ACTUAL GORE.

Seriously, it's not even a a war photo. Why the ludicrous gibs?

/bonus points if you get the game reference ;)

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#17 posted by eclectro , December 17, 2007 11:17 AM

Where's the freakin' unicorn already. Somebody email Xeni.

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#18 posted by Bat Guano , December 17, 2007 11:20 AM

U HAS A FLAVOR

Sorry. I had to.

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#19 posted by ill lich , December 17, 2007 11:32 AM

"the arm once belonged to a veterinarian tending to the crocodile"?

I think technically it STILL belongs to the vet. Just one of the PITFALLs of being a veterinarian, I guess.

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#20 posted by Casey Sorrow

, December 17, 2007 11:39 AM

oh yes, very real, i remember when it made the news. A few more photos here for those interested:

http://fiendfolio.blogspot.com/2007/05/hand-wound-monday-crocodile-attack.html

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#21 posted by Antinous , December 17, 2007 11:43 AM

I followed the link. That croc photo is one of the cheerful ones.

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#22 posted by ill lich , December 17, 2007 11:44 AM

"I'm a leg man myself!"

(*rim shot*-- tthank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.)

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#23 posted by OM

, December 17, 2007 11:54 AM

...How soon before someone photochops the arm into the Middle Finger Salute? :)

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#24 posted by remmelt

, December 17, 2007 12:37 PM

oblig. "your arm looks shopped. i can tell from some of the pixels and having seen quite a few shops in my time"

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#25 posted by Xeno , December 17, 2007 12:46 PM

I stand color-corrected.

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#26 posted by KurtMac

, December 17, 2007 12:52 PM

Great Googly-Moogly, I need about 100 unicorns to pull me out of the deep depression that was caused by looking though the whole Best AFP Photos 2007 gallery.

Mothers cradling their bloodied dead sons, people being hanged, people waving goodbye as they are about to be hanged, people drowning in mudslides and our fantastic Human Arm Meat in a Crocs Mouth photo we have here. Would somebody come and lock me up in a padded room? I cants stands it anymore!

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#27 posted by romwell , December 17, 2007 3:02 PM

Guys, here's your unicorn chaser, sort of:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3032876

the guy had his hand re-attached.

As for the 'photoshop dude' - did you even try googling for it ?! You know, as in 'look for other sources'. Reminds me of http://xkcd.com/331/

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#28 posted by Uhclem , December 17, 2007 5:13 PM

the arm once belonged to a veterinarian

So, is that like "it was the vet's arm", or that he had an extra arm lying around that he was saving to feed his favourite croc?

I didn't think people had the right to have human arms around, although of course in the US you do have the right to bear arms.

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