Angry Mob in Indonesia Slaughters 300 Crocodiles in Revenge for Man's Death

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, July 17, 2018

A mob of villagers in Indonesia descended upon an animal protection breeding ground and laid waste to nearly 300 crocodiles in the sanctuary. According to officials, the slaughter was done in revenge for the death of a local man.

A 48-year-old man in the area was killed by crocodiles when he ventured into the area around the crocodile breeding grounds in West Papua province in Indonesia, according to Basar Manullang, the head of the local Natural Resources and Conservation Agency via NBC News.

He was allegedly looking to cut down some grass to feed to his cattle when he entered the crocodile sanctuary in the Klamalu neighborhood of Sorong district. "His family said that Sugito, who worked at a tofu factory, was looking for grass for his cattle when a local resident heard him shouting for help," a local resident, Olga, told The Jakarta Post.

After his funeral on Saturday, July 14, an unidentified number of residents took knives, machetes, and tools and took it upon themselves to kill all the crocodiles they could find, according to Manullang. Residents would use knives to kill the reptiles, after catching them and dragging them outside of the breeding pools.

The crocodile farm was run by the company Mitra Lestari Abadi, which was said to be operating it legally with a license for crocodile breeding. Even after around 40 policemen came to the scene, the angry mob was simply too numerous to stop, according to witnesses.

The mob was also armed with hammers, shovels, and other sharp weapons aside from knives, which they used to capture and kill two large crocodiles measuring almost 13 feet long, and numerous baby reptiles as well.

The rampaging locals have first attacked the office of the crocodile farm, before moving on to slaughter the reptiles in the area, according to BBC.