An Israeli crocodile named "Muammar Qaddafi" may be given a new name to spare his life after Libyan rebels stormed the eccentric dictator's compound in Tripoli.

 
News out of Libya has worried keepers at the Hamat Gader crocodile farm on the Golan Heights, who are concerned the demise of the Libyan strongman could spell a sticky end for their croc "Qaddafi" - a three-meter giant who weighs around 230kg.
 
Another of their crocodiles, named "Yasser Arafat," died just weeks after the iconic PLO leader passed away in a Paris hospital in November 2004, spokeswoman Meital Dana told AFP.
 
"He died at the end of 2004, just a few weeks afterwards," she told AFP, confirming a story first reported in Maariv.
 
Park officials are now looking into a new name in the hope it will spare "Gaddafi" the same fate, she said.
 
The giant crocodile won his name for both his size and the year he was was born: 1975, when Qaddafi first published The Green Book outlining his political philosophy, Dana said.
 
Hamat Gader is the largest crocodile farm in the Middle East, and home to around 200 crocodiles from all over the world, including several others named after world leaders, Dana said.
 
"We have one called Berlusconi, who is a real skirt chaser," she said.