'Godzilla' croc hunted in Ukraine

By Helen Fawkes
BBC News, Kiev

A photograph appears to show Godzilla on a rusting boat (pic: Gazeta Priazovsky Rabochy)

Emergency workers are hunting a crocodile which has escaped from a travelling circus in southern Ukraine.

It went missing in the sea at Mariupol, close to Ukraine's border with Russia.

There have been a number of sightings of the animal, including a photo in a local newspaper, but all attempts to capture it have so far failed.

The crocodile, named Godzilla, was being paraded on a beach in Mariupol on the south coast of Ukraine when it suddenly ran into the Azov Sea.

But despite its name, the creature has been keeping a low profile.

Elusive creature

Godzilla, who is only is one metre long, is said to be scared of humans.

More than two months after its escape, a local newspaper in southern Ukraine has printed a picture of what it says is Godzilla.

The photo appears to show a small crocodile resting on a rusting boat.

Emergency workers are now trying to catch the animal.

But Godzilla is proving elusive and has not been tempted by slabs of meat left on the shore.

A Russian news agency has claimed that the team is planning to use live guinea pigs to lure the crocodile out of the water.

However, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's emergency ministry denied this and said the workers are just going to sit and wait for Godzilla to wander onto the beach.