A 72-year-old farmer was killed by ‘about 40 crocodiles’ this morning after falling into their enclosure on the family’s reptile farm.
Luan Nam was trying to move a crocodile out of its cage in Cambodia where it had laid eggs when it grabbed the stick he was using as a goad and pulled him in.
A group of reptiles swarmed him, tearing his body to pieces and leaving the enclosure in Siem Reap awash with blood.
The body was pictured, recovered, after the incident, but police said the man’s arm was torn off and swallowed by the crocodiles.
Farmers in Cambodia often breed and sell crocodiles to buyers in China, Thailand and Vietnam where their skin can be made into leather and other products.
Mey Savry, police chief of Siem Reap commune, told AFP: ‘While he was chasing a crocodile out of an egg-laying cage, the crocodile attacked the stick, causing him to fall into the enclosure.’
‘Then other crocodiles pounced, attacking him until he was dead,’ he said.
He added that the remains of the man’s body were covered with bite marks.
Images after the attack showed the huge beasts still paddling in the pool after the body was recovered.
Local news reported that the victim was from Po Banteay Chey village within the Siem Reap commune, outside of the city.
Siem Reap is the second largest city in Cambodia, home to the Angkor Wat Buddhist temple complex.
Angkor Wat is considered the world’s largest religious structure.
Nam was also named as the president of the country’s Crocodile Association.
He was said to have died at around 5am on May 26 2023.
A two-year-old girl was killed and eaten by crocodiles in 2019 when she wandered into her family’s reptile farm in the same village, the police chief said.
There are a number of crocodile farms around Siem Reap, the gateway city to the famed ruins of Angkor Wat.
The reptiles are kept for their eggs, skins and meat as well as the trade in their young.
Crocodile farmers have also increasingly worked with conservationists in Cambodia in recent years.
This article by James Reynolds was first published by The Daily Mail on 26 May 2023. Lead Image: Large crocodiles are pictured sitting together in the enclosure in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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