Crocodile Tourism

An odd situation in Ghana, Africa. From ABC Travel News:

"There is something strange going on in the small village of Paga in northern Ghana in West Africa. It appears to defy the laws of nature, and certainly the laws of fear.
"Most of the outside world is unaware of the special but bizarre relationship that exists here between humans and crocodiles, animals that anyone with an ounce of common sense would run from.
"But the people of Paga swim joyfully and wash clothes in the same village pond that 110 crocs use as their home — and their dining room.
"No one seems to know how long the crocodiles have lived in the pond, or how they got to this land-locked area. But Yahaya Ahasan, the head crocodile keeper, told ABC News that no one from the village has ever been harmed by the crocs. That's extraordinary, considering that crocodiles are notoriously nasty if you get in their way, or if you resemble food.
"But Ahasan said the crocs don't feel threatened by humans here. 'We believe that they are the souls of relatives of this town,' he said. 'They are sacred animals, so we don't hate them, we don't kill them, we don't harm them.'" ...
"One secret to the coexistence may be that the crocs here are some of the best-fed animals on the planet. They have lots of frogs and fish to snap at or gobble up in the water.
"And for 10 specially trained crocs, there is a steady diet of tasty live chickens. The chickens are paid for by tourists who come from around the world to sit on the crocs backs, pet them and wag their tails, which could well slice them in two if not attached to a creature so happily digesting a bountiful buffet of birds." ...
"It may seem cruel to sacrifice all these chickens, but the people of Paga point out that if the crocodiles didn't have this feathered fast food, they would kill the town's livestock, enter homes looking for food, and even mistake small children for supper.
"Besides, according to the the handlers, the crocs have earned their keep because they helped pay for the village day care center through money raised from the hundreds of tourists who visit each month."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]