“I always dreamed of landing a great catch but I never thought it would be a crocodile,” joked the angler. “The world has gone mad when you can find a crocodile in the Warta.”

Mr Kaczor added that he did not fear the one-and-half-metre long beast because he realized that as it was floating on its back when he was reeling it in, it was probably dead.

The crocodile had died about two days earlier probably because there was no sign of decomposition.

As police wondered just how the crocodile ended up in the Warta, animal experts said the reptile was probably bought as a pet on the black market and released into the wild when it became too big.

It  was a young Nile crocodile. This species is bred on farms and is commercially available. It can grow up to six metres but in captivity rarely exceeds three.

Experts have warned that the Warta crocodile will probably be not the last exotic and dangerous animal to surface in Poland either dead or alive.

Under law a crocodile is classified as a Category One animal, a group which also includes the monitor lizard and the black widow spider. Under rule changes introduced in November, Category One animals have to be handed over to a zoo or a circus within six months but for the owners of illegally bought pets this could prove troublesome.

To handover a crocodile or other dangerous creature without the necessary paperwork may land them in legal hot water, so the owners will probably take to dumping them in the wild. They may also try to leave them near zoos in the hope that a prompt rescue and transfer to expert care may spare their former pet the long and slow death that will befall most exotic animals released into the Polish countryside.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)