He hopes to find a new home for the female crocodile, who is four or five years old and currently a metre long, at a local safari park.

BBC: South American crocodile with shop owner Jimmy Wicks

Each night, thousands of children, some only four or five years old, leave their villages and walk for miles to the safety of Gulu, the biggest town in northern Uganda.

NPR: Lost Generation Grows in Uganda

"It gives me time to get back with my family and do things I've been wanting to do for the past four or five years, " the 52-year-old said.

BBC: Strachan happy on football break

But the two-year-old girl is expected to outgrow the windpipe in four or five years, at which point she will need a new, larger one, said Dr. Macchiarini.

WSJ: Scientists Implant Lab-Made Trachea Into Toddler