Chito the man who made friends with a crocodile

A MAN wades into the water and whistles. What happens next is almost beyond belief. A half-tonne crocodile swims up but instead of making a meal of the man, the two begin to play-wrestle. Meet Costa Rica's own Crocodile Man, 52-year-old Chito, and his best mate Pocho, a five-metre, 445kg croc, who put on this show for amazed crowds at a lake in Siquirres, reports the Courier Mail. Chito told The Sun: "Pocho is my best friend. This is a very dangerous routine but we have a good relationship. He will look me in the eye and not attack me. "It is too dangerous for anyone else to come in the water. It is only ever the two of us." Chito made friends with the croc after finding him close to death with a gunshot wound in the eye on the banks of Costa Rica's Parismina River 20 years ago.

He enlisted some mates to help him load the massive reptile into his boat.

"When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house," he said.

"I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad.

"It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals - especially ones that have suffered."

It took years before Chito felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal.

He says: "After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more.

"Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me."