René Hedegaard, the owner of Krokodille Zoo in Falster, will travel with a DR2 TV crew on Saturday 23 May to South Africa to rescue a giant crocodile from becoming prey to big game hunters.

Local sponsors have collected 100,000 kroner to help finance the trip.

Once the crocodile lands on Danish soil, it will become by far the largest in the country.

“It will not only be the largest in Denmark, but one of the largest in any European zoo,” Hedegaard told Ekstra Bladet.

One big croc
The five metre long, 600 kilo crocodile named ‘Sobek’ has been spending time as a stud in a wildlife park near Johannesburg.

Big game hunters have been salivating, waiting for Sobek’s time as a stud to be over, and the locals understandably have little interest in protecting a giant crocodile.

“He is so large that there is the potential that humans could be on the menu, so they are often killed and removed from the wild,” said Hedegaard.

Sexy time
The zoo in Falster has built an enclosure large enough for Sobek and picked out three females for him to perhaps continue his amorous career.

Hedegaard said that they plan to take things slowly.

“We will keep them separated while he checks them out,” said Hedegaard

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Hedegaard said that bringing Sobek to Denmark has been his zoo’s biggest challenge ever.

“The flight from Johannesburg to Frankfurt alone costs 170,000 kroner,” he said.

Sober is expected in Denmark around 29 May, but it will be a few days before he is ready for prime time.