A tourist tries to kiss the baby crocodile.

The "Cocrodile Tribe" in the park

"King of Crocodile"

A crocodile park, said to be the largest one of its kind in the world, opens to the public in Panyu District in Guangzhou today (May 27).

The park, covering an area of 73 hectares and costing 300 million yuan (US$36.5 million), is the third theme park developed by the Guangzhou Changlong Group, a large private company that operates the Guangzhou Xiangjiang Safari Park and a number of hotels.

The park will be an extension of a crocodile farm inside the Guangzhou Xiangjiang Safari Park in Dashi Township. The farm has 100,000 crocodiles, about 70 percent of the total crocodile population in captivity in China, the Southern Metropolitan News reported Wednesday.

Professor Grahame Webb, director of Wildlife Management International Pty Ltd., of Darwin, Australia, was most impressed with the farm with so many crocodiles on his visit to the district.

Changlong Group started to breed crocodiles seven years ago and the company decided to transform the farm into a park last year.

Visitors will be able to have close contact with crocodiles and gain a better understanding of the reptiles.

Editor: Catherine