Carcasses of crocodiles burnt

Indonesian authorities have burned the carcasses of nearly 300 crocodiles slaughtered by villagers retaliating for the death of a man attacked by a reptile from a breeding farm, a government official said yesterday.

After the victim’s burial, an angry mob armed with knives, hammers and clubs burst into the farm area and bludgeoned to death 292 of the protected reptiles.

“The dead crocodiles have been burned and buried around the farming area,” Basar Manullang, a conservation official in the province of West Papua, said in a text message.

Photos showed the crocodiles had been placed in a large pit in the ground, along with wood for kindling, and set alight.

The 48-year-old victim had entered the crocodile farm in the Sorong district and was thought to be picking grass for animal feed when he was attacked.

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

The eastern area of Papua has a special dispensation that allows some of the crocodiles to be exploited for skin, spawning a retail industry in items from belts to bags and shoes made from the skin of the reptiles. Muhammad Nur, who owns the Crocodile Craft Centre based in the Papuan port of Merauke, said the conservation agency only allowed medium-sized crocodiles to be used.

“Big crocodiles are for breeding and small crocodiles are still babies,” he said, adding that his business used skins from saltwater crocodiles.