Indonesian villagers slaughtered nearly 300 crocodiles at a breeding ground in Indonesia’s West Papua province after a man was killed by one of the reptiles, officials said Monday.
Antara news agency released photographs where bloodied carcasses of the crocodiles in a large pile in the Sorong district can be seen.
The head of Indonesia’s natural resources conservation agency in West Papua said that the 48-year-old victim was probably picking grass for animal feed when he was killed.
“An employee heard someone screaming for help, he quickly went there and saw a crocodile attacking someone,” said Basar Manullang.
After the man was buried on Saturday, villagers entered the farm and killed all the crocodiles. Manullang also said in a statement that the villagers were armed with machetes, hammers, shovels and other sharp weapons.
The farm had been given a licence to breed the protected species of saltwater and New Guinea crocodiles in 2013 for preservation and to harvest some of the animals.
“To prevent this from happening again, farming licence holders need to secure surrounding areas,” he said.
The Natural Resources Conservation Agency said it was coordinating with police efforts in their investigation into the incident.
> Shiuly Rina
