The Crocodile Feeder of Ivory Coast

Fascinating article on today's BBC website about a crocodile keeper who dedicated his life to the sacred crocodiles of Yamassoukrou Lake before being consumed by one of them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19576296

"The ritual takes place in the afternoon, in bright light. There are the cars, the tourists in bright clothes, the cameras. But the crocodiles are sacred. A live offering - a chicken - has to be made to them; it is part of the ritual.

This element of sacrifice, this protracted display of power and cruelty, is as unsettling as it is meant to be, and it seems to bring night and the forest close again to the dream of Yamoussoukro."

V S Naipaul, The Crocodiles of Yamoussoukro, New Yorker (1984)