Saying goodbye to beloved pets is always difficult. But for one pet owner from Harbin, parting from his animals on Sept 6 produced particularly mixed feelings.

These animals were no ordinary pets. They were two 1.5-meter-long crocodiles, which the man, surnamed Wu, had decided to send to the zoo in Niao Yu Lin Park.

Wu had kept the reptiles for seven years. When he first acquired them, they were just 20 centimeters long, but over the years they became much larger, and fiercer.

The crocodiles now eat so much more than before, and are so much more aggressive, that Wu was afraid of keeping them any longer.

Niao Yu Lin Park has now relocated the reptiles to the zoo, where they are being kept separated from the other animals, according to staff at the zoo.