BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip — It took an Internet search, shark nets, and two weeks of floating in a sewage pond, but Gaza policemen said Tuesday they have finally captured a crocodile that was terrifying residents.

The 5-foot-9-inch crocodile escaped his zoo enclosure two years ago and crawled about a half-mile to a large sewage pit near the northern Gaza Strip town of Umm al-Nasser, said Lieutenant Colonel Samih al-Sultan, who led the hunt.