The amazing friendship between a man and a crocodile

One of the most amazing interspecific love stories is that of Chito (the man) and Pocho (the crocodile)
By Adriano Facioli*

In 1989 Chito was walking along a riverbank, and saw that on the bank there was a very emaciated crocodile, in agony. He then weighed only 70 kilos and was between 30 and 40 years old.

He had a bullet wound in his left eye. Chito took pity on him, and took the animal to his house, where in the back of the house there was a lake.

For days, maybe months, he dedicated himself intensely to take care of the animal, to make it survive. For a few nights he even slept on the crocodile's side and caressed it constantly.
When the animal was fully recovered, he took it back to the riverbank where he had found it, so that it could return to its habitat.

Pocho, however, did not leave, and followed Chito back to his home. Months passed, and Chito realized that it might be possible to train the animal.

He dedicated himself to this to the point that his wife, at the time, abandoned him. He had to choose: her or the crocodile. And Chito chose the crocodile. Because there would not be another crocodile like that one, and he could then get another wife.