China sells 100 tons of live crocodiles — no delivery is provided
The reptiles had earlier been owned by Guangdong Hongyi Crocodile Industry Company, which was a business established in 2005 by Mo Junrong.
A court in China has started an odd online auction, selling 100 live crocodiles for four million yuan (US$550,000), but with one catch — they need to be picked up personally. The quirky sale attracted widespread interest on social media when the Shenzhen Nanshan People‘s Court posted the crocodiles on Alibaba‘s Judicial Auction Platform.
The reptiles were once owned by Guangdong Hongyi Crocodile Industry Company, which was established in 2005 by Mo Junrong — a former nickname China‘s “Crocodile God“. The company failed to meet its financial obligations and the court decided to auction its assets, including the huge consignment of reptiles.
The auction officially started on March 10 and will continue until May 9.
Crocodiles: A profitable industry
Crocodiles are regarded as extremely lucrative in China, where they are utilized in more than 100 products that include leather and meat to cosmetics, wine, and health tonics. The listed reptiles in the auction are Siamese crocodiles — a species which has been cleared for commercial farming and trade in China since the year 2003.
One Siamese crocodile usually weighs between 200 and 500 kilograms, so the 100-ton lot might contain between 200 and 500 individual animals.
But it’s not only the cost that’s causing a stir. As part of the auction conditions, potential buyers will have to cover all collection costs — including catching, weighing, loading, and transporting the crocodiles themselves. They should also have a legitimate artificial breeding license for aquatic wildlife and suitable facilities and transport capacity. Not fulfilling such requirements upon winning the bid will warrant forfeiture of a 300,000 yuan (US$41,000) down payment, as reported by South China Morning Post.
The third auction attempt
So far, more than 4,000 individuals have viewed the auction page, but no one has signed up to bid. This is the third time the court has tried to auction off the crocodiles. Earlier attempts in January and February — with starting prices of five million and four million yuan respectively — did not find any bidders.
The post generated laughter on social media, where one person quipped, “It is so scary. I wonder who will actually buy them?” Another reader wrote, “This is not for an ordinary person. You will need a whole industry to handle them.
The sale has been compared to other unusual judicial auctions, like in a 2023 case when a Jiangsu province court auctioned off a Sprite bottle belonging to a bankrupt millionaire for as low as 4.2 yuan.
