(please move topic if it's in the wrong category)
I just watched the documentary about a crocodile named Pocho with an apparently deep bond with a man. Obviously not something that happens every century. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if everyone's already seen it.
Unlike the grizzly man (who was mauled and eaten eventually) and lion whisperer, who both just go into nature to hang out with wild bears/lions that they didn't previously know, this guy saved the crocodile's life when the croc was young. The croc was shot by hunters and dying, and the man spent 3 years nurturing the croc back to health.
When the croc was fully recovered, the man repeatedly attempted to free the croc in different rivers, but the croc would return to his front porch in the morning, not unlike a dog. So the man has since spent the last 20 years visiting and swimming with Pocho. He says that Pocho is very intelligent and remembers games that they play.
That's just a very very quick intro. You guys should watch the whole video! It's true, if the croc wanted to eat the man, it probably would have happened in 2 or 3 years of their daily visits in the water... It's been 20 years, and not only has nothing happened to him, the croc continues to show his attachment to this particular man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOqSosiKS8
Reptiles have very little ways to express their internal world to be comprehensible to us, their brains are formed and wired in in a completely different way than mammals, so there's no basis for us to firmly claim that they're incapable of feeling "emotion", whatever the function or definition is for reptiles. Just like for mammals though, different categories of reptiles have different levels of intelligence... so I wouldn't be surprised if crocs are one of the more intelligent species.
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