A court in Israel paused a strange plan this week to dig a moat filled with crocodiles around a desert prison. The idea, put forward by a government minister, was meant to stop prisoners from escaping the Ketziot Prison, which sits in a remote area near the Egyptian border.
The unusual plan was inspired by a similar idea used at a detention centre in the United States, which was surrounded by wetlands and alligators. To make the crocodile plan possible, officials had reclassified Nile crocodiles so they could be kept at the prison, and workers had already begun digging channels for the moat. Around NZ$11.8 million had been set aside for the project.
An animal welfare group called Let the Animals Live took the government to court, arguing the crocodiles could suffer if they were used this way. A judge agreed to temporarily block the plan while the case was being decided, and officials now had until 16 August to respond.
The minister behind the idea was unimpressed by the court’s decision and shared a funny computer-made picture of himself patting a crocodile on social media. Animal rights groups, however, welcomed the pause and said they hoped the crocodile moat would never be built.
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