Hong Kong's crocodile drama has captured the media's attention

A team of Chinese experts are setting net traps in the latest bid to catch Hong Kong's elusive crocodile.

An 11-man team hope to confine the reptile to an area of marshland close to the border with mainland China.

The 1.5 metre-long crocodile has so far managed to elude attempts by Hong Kong officials and an Australian hunter to capture it.

It was first sighted in the territory on 2 November, the first crocodile seen there in the wild.

Team leader He Zhanzhao and a colleague spent two days searching for the crocodile in the swampy suburban creek earlier in the week, but failed to catch sight of it.

They and the rest of the team returned on Sunday to set net traps after the crocodile was briefly spotted in the morning, said co-ordinator Chan Siu-keung.

The wily reptile's continuing escape act has made headlines around the world.

Frustration

Australian hunter John Lever headed home at the end of November after two weeks of failing to snare the beast.

He said the presence of some 600 spectators and 200 journalists had not helped his efforts.

Mr Lever was sceptical about the Chinese team's chances of success. "They've got no experience in hunting, they're handlers," he told the BBC's World Today programme.

The crocodile is believed to be on the run from a mainland crocodile farm, or a home where it was kept as a pet.