Costa Rica: Pocho laid to rest

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Costa Rica: Pocho laid to rest

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Costa Rica's colossal crocodile, the performing Pocho, was laid to rest.

17 October,2011 01:25 pm

The Costa Rican town of Siquirres turned out on Sunday to bid farewell to one of its most famous sons -- a 4 1/2 meter (15 feet) long crocodile and internet celebrity called Pocho.People lined the streets of the small pineapple and banana farming town to pay their respects to the funeral cortege of the 1,000 pound (450 kg) reptile, thought to be the first crocodile ever accorded the honour in Costa Rica.Pocho was the larger half of a double act that helped put the Carribean town on the map, dazzling tourists and locals alike with an array of hair-raising tricks for eight years.The crocodile was laid out on a trailer that a truck pulled around the town, with the 54-year-old Pochos partner and owner Gilberto Shedden sitting next to the body in nothing but a loin cloth. Cars and pedestrians moved slowly along the streets in homage to the departed celebrity.As Pocho lay in state, recordings of Caribbean carnival music and intermittent Tarzan yelps blasted out on speakers. A solemn Reverend Sonia Richards Campbell presided over the funeral, standing over Pochos corpse, which was garlanded with tropical flowers and burning incense.During shows, Shedden would dive into a lake, splash around and pretend to wrestle with the crocodile, drawing gasps from large crowds. Sporting leopard-print shorts, Shedden would even put his face right up to Pocho and kiss him on the snout.Pocho, who Shedden said was about 60 years old, will still be drawing visitors after his death -- his cadaver is to be embalmed and put on display in a museum.Sheddens daring stunts during 1,000 odd shows earned him the nickname of Tarzan Tico -- Tico is a local name for Costa Ricans -- and online videos of the pair went viral, making the fisherman and his reptilian friend international stars.The origins of the act went back some 20 years, when Shedden found the American crocodile in a river suffering from a gun shot wound to the head. Their friendship blossomed after Shedden took the croc home and nursed it back to health.