Indonesian Villagers Kill Nearly 300 Crocodiles In Revenge For Death

Croc on the menu at Sorong  

AGENCIES
07/16/2018

SORONG, Indonesia

Indonesian villagers armed with knives, hammers and clubs slaughtered 292 crocodiles in revenge for the death of a man killed by a crocodile at a breeding farm, an official said.

The incident happened Saturday following the funeral of the 48-year-old man who was killed after he entered an enclosure while looking for grass to feed his livestock, police and conservation officials said.

The man's family and "hundreds" of other locals, angry over the farm's location near a residential area, marched to the police station where they were told the breeder would pay compensation, he added. 

But the villagers were not satisfied and headed to the crocodile farm armed with clubs, knives, machetes and shovels which they used to slaughter some 292 crocs, ranging from palm-sized babies to two-metre adults, authorities said.

Outnumbered police and conservation officials said they were unable to stop the reprisal attack.

Photographs released by Antara news agency showed bloodied carcasses of the crocodiles in a large pile in the Sorong district of the eastern Indonesian province of West Papua.

The head of Indonesia's Natural Resources Conservation Agency in West Papua said that the 48-year-old victim had entered the crocodile farm and was likely picking grass for animal feed when he was attacked.

"An employee heard someone screaming for help, he quickly went there and saw a crocodile attacking someone," Basar Manullang said in a statement.

After the burial of the man on Saturday, villagers entered the farm and killed all the crocodiles, said Manullang.

Manullang said the farm had been given a license to breed protected saltwater and New Guinea crocodiles in 2013 for preservation and also to harvest some of the animals.

But one of the conditions was that the reptiles did not disturb the community, he said.

"To prevent this from happening again, farming license holders need to secure surrounding areas," said Manullang. He said his agency was coordinating with police in their investigation.

"Crocodiles are God's creatures that need to be protected too," Manullang said.

The bloody incident highlighted the dangers of trespassing into a breeding farm and also raised concerns about its safety.

"They have to make sure that the farm has good barriers and they need to step up security with CCTV and security signs to warn people" of the dangers, said Dwi Nugroho Adhiasto, programme manager at the World Conservation Society's Indonesia office.

The Southeast Asian archipelago is home to a vast array of wildlife, including several species of crocodile that regularly attack and kill humans.

In March authorities in Borneo shot and killed a six-metre long crocodile after it ate a local palm plantation worker.

Two years ago, a Russian tourist was killed by a crocodile in the Raja Ampat islands, a popular diving site in Indonesia's east.

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