History of a local origin crocodile pond in a community(paga) in Ghana that the folks take the crocodiles as their totems.

The locally told origin of the pond was that a crocodile brought a dying man to the pond to drink water, who after surviving, declared the pond to be sacred and that no harm should come to the crocodiles. This legend of the crocodiles is claimed to date back to about 600 years. The crocodiles are considered to be totems for these local people.Another story states that a man was trapped against the water's edge by a lion, when he bargained with a crocodile that none of his children would harm his kind if he would kill the lion. It is believed that the souls of the people of Paga resides in these crocodiles.It is an offence to kill crocodiles in Paga, or eat crocodile meat. The crocodiles at Paga are very friendly.
Visitors can sit, touch and take photographs with the crocodiles. The crocodiles roam freely throughout the pond, and are brought to the shore when the guides whistle loudly. Tourists can then take photographs while holding the crocodile's tails, after the guide has fed them a chicken.There are concerns that the pond is now too reliant on tourism, with caretaker Salifu Awewozem saying in 2009 that the elderly crocodiles require specialist care, and the only time additional food is provided to the reptiles is when tourists pay for the chickens when they pose for photographs.Tourists use Paga as an opportunity to see preserved slave camps. The also enjoy village tours and evening drumming and dancing by any local cultural group could be arranged for them.