Causing much merriment in Hong Kong at the moment is a crocodile roaming around a river in Yeun Long. Ron at See Lai has some photos from his vigil. It's easy to see why it's taking the guy a few days to get the croc.

But there's more. The South China Morning Post paid for John Lever to come over from Australia to get this croc. They don't want him to catch it on the first day. They've been able to milk this little story for all it's worth for the last three days, with no end in sight: For the third morning running, Australian crocodile expert John Lever came close to catching the Yuen Long crocodile yesterday but was thwarted by the wily reptile.

They want their money's worth. They've got photos, interviews, crowd reports. The SCMP has been able to fill page after page so that it's become second nature. I can picture the daily editorial meetings now: "Right, croc on page one and three of City, plus let's bang a few photos and a crappy graphic. And don't you let that interloper from Down Under catch the thing for at least a week! Right, now news section..."

There will be a day or two extra copy once they catch the thing. No doubt the Cantonese papers will have graphic photos of the innards of the vile reptile. Really the poor thing deserves sympathy for being able to survive so long in such conditions.

And just wait a couple of weeks until the "Sha Tin Kangaroo" is on the loose.