A group of angry villagers in the far-eastern province of West Papua in Indonesia slaughtered nearly 300 crocodiles as a form of revenge for one local man thought to have been killed by one animal from the site.
The local villager killed was said to be harvesting vegetables on Friday morning on the crocodile farm’s breeding sanctuary when he was killed, reported BBC.
The head of Indonesia’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency in West Papua said an employee heard the screams of the victim who was asking for help. The employee went there to find the villager being attacked by one of the crocodiles.
After the funeral on Saturday, villagers went to the breeding sanctuary while carrying knives, shovels, and hammers.
Local reports stated that the angry mob first attacked the sanctuary’s office before slaughtering 292 reptiles, ranging from full grown to young animal, at the site.
BBC further reported that the sanctuary was “operating on a licence to breed protected saltwater and New Guinea crocodiles both for preservation and to harvest some of the animals.”
Officials and police forces were not able to stop the attack on the animals. They may soon press charges as killing protected species in Indonesia entails fine and imprisonment.
Photo credits: Reuters
