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Angry mob armed with knives, shovels and hammers slaughter 300 crocodiles after man killed by reptile in Indonesia

The shocking attack happened on Saturday: REUTERS
The shocking attack happened on Saturday: REUTERS

An angry mob armed with knives, shovels and hammers have slaughtered nearly 300 crocodiles after a man was killed by a reptile in Indonesia.

The mob invaded a sanctuary for the animals in the Indonesian province of West Papua after the man’s funeral on Saturday.

The brutal attack was in retaliation over the death of the villager who was killed on Friday morning while gathering vegetables on the crocodile farm’s breeding sanctuary.

Officials and police say they were not able to stop the attack on the animals and may now press charges against those who attacked them.

Killing a protected species is currently a crime that carries a fine or imprisonment in Indonesia.

292 crocodiles are said to have died (AFP/Getty Images)
292 crocodiles are said to have died (AFP/Getty Images)

The head of Indonesia’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency in West Papua, Basar Manullang told Reuters: "An employee heard someone screaming for help, he quickly went there and saw a crocodile attacking someone.”

He added that after the local man’s funeral, villagers entered the farm armed with knives, shovels and hammers and killed 292 crocodiles.

Mr 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.

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

He added: “Crocodiles are God’s creatures that need to be protected too.”