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INDONESIA-ENVIRONMENT-WILDLIFE-CRIME
Indonesian mob slaughters ‘hundreds’ of crocs in revenge attack
SORONG, Indonesia, July 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – An angry mob has slaughtered
nearly 300 crocodiles in Indonesia after a local man was killed by one of the
reptiles, authorities said Monday.
The revenge killing happened Saturday in Papua province following the
funeral of the man, who perished when he fell into an enclosure at a
crocodile farm while looking for grass to feed his livestock, police and
conservation officials said.
The victim, identified as 48-year-old Sugito, was bitten on the leg and
then fatally struck with a tail of one of the crocodiles, which are a
protected species, they said.
Sugito’s relatives and local residents, angry over the farm’s location
near a residential area, marched to the local police station, authorities
said.
Local conservation agency head Bassar Manulang said they were told that
the farm had agreed to pay compensation.
“We made an agreement with the victim’s family and conveyed our
condolences,” he added.
But the mob, which numbered in the “hundreds”, was not satisfied and
headed to the crocodile farm armed with knives, machetes and shovels which
they used to slaughter some 292 crocs, from four-inch-long babies to two-
metre adults, authorities said.
Outnumbered police and conservation agency officials said they were unable
to stop the grisly attack.
Authorities said they are investigating and may lay criminal charges.
“For now we are still questioning the witnesses,” said Dewa Made Sidan
Sutrahna, the police chief in Papua’s Sorong district.
The Indonesian archipelago is home to a vast array of wildlife, including
several species of crocodile that regularly attack and kill humans.
In March authorities in on the Indonesian half of Borneo island 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 the east of the archipelago.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1212 hrs