No joke: 'Monitor lizard' that bit Malaysian woman turns out to be baby croc

While doing housework one morning, a Malaysian woman stopped in her tracks after she was bitten by what she thought to be a monitor lizard.

The 65-year-old woman, Faridah Abdul Ghani, had stepped out of her home in Malacca to clean the verandah at around 6am on Sunday (Oct 1) when she felt something biting her left leg.

"It was dark at that time and I thought I had been bitten by a monitor lizard. I shouted for my family and when my son looked closely, he realised the animal was a crocodile," she told Malaysian daily Harian Metro. 

"If it were a lizard, it would have run away. But the crocodile stayed put and kept opening its jaws before my son trapped it with a food cover," she added.

They immediately contacted the Malaysian Civil Defence Force for assistance.

Faridah also told Malaysia Gazette that the reptile measured approximately 30cm.

The elderly woman added that she had previously seen crocodiles swimming in the waters of Tanjung Bidara beach, which is located close to her house.

However, it was the first time a reptile had made its way into her residence.

Masjid Tanah civil defence unit officer Shahrul Riza Saiful Bahry said that after receiving the call, a team of four members was immediately dispatched to the scene. They successfully captured the baby crocodile.

The reptile, believed to have strayed from its natural habitat, was handed over to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks for further action.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com