South African Police Hunting Thousands Of Escaped Crocodiles

Police in South Africa have been mobilized to join the hunt for some 10,000 escaped crocodiles who bolted from a farm amidst flooding.

As The Inquisitr has previously reported, heavy rains forced the owners of the Rakwena Crocodile Farm near the Botswana and Zimbabwe borders to open the farm floodgates last Sunday. When the gates opened, more than 15,000 crocodiles escaped into the Limpopo River. The owners managed to round up many of the crocs, but thousands of them — most of which are estimated to be about six feet long — are still on the loose.

Reuters provided this update on the South African crocodile hunt being conducted by police and civilians:

“Crocodile farmers, locals and police have trapped thousands of the reptiles, using plastic bands to tie their legs behind their backs and then piling them into pick-up trucks …

” ‘We are working as a team with the stakeholders,’ police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Friday. There have been no reports of injuries caused by the escaped reptiles.”

Heavy rains and flooding have struck the area recently, with about 10-30 people having been killed and thousands of residents being left homeless.

The owners of the Rakwena Crocodile Farm said that they are having better luck at capturing the animals at night since crocodile eyes glow red in the dark. Animal safety experts are telling people in the area to stay away from animals and to alert authorities if they spot a crocodile.

Several farms in the area reportedly supply crocodile skin to the fashion industry.