A farmer in Cambodia was torn apart by his crocodiles after he fell into the enclosure while attempting to move one of them with a stick, AFP reported.
Luan Nam, 72, fell into a crocodile enclosure at his farm in Po Banteay Chey village in the Siem Reap commune as he was trying to use a stick to shift a crocodile that had just laid its eggs. The crocodile grabbed the stick and pulled Nam into the enclosure where around 40 crocodiles attacked him, leaving the enclosure soaked in blood.
Mey Savry, the chief of police for Sien Reap commune, told AFP that the victim suffered numerous bites on his body and one arm was completely ripped away and eaten by one of the crocodiles.
According to the UK Telegraph, photos taken at the scene after the tragic accident show the crocodiles in the blood-soaked enclosure. One photo reportedly shows Luan Nam’s body surrounded by crocodiles while another shows one crocodile with the victim’s shoe in its mouth.
Crocodiles are raised in several farms in the Siem Reap commune. The eggs, skins, and meat are sold for export to markets in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The skins are used to make products like leather while there is a lucrative market in both eggs and hatchlings.
Commune chief May Sameth told AFP that the victim, who served as president for the local crocodile farmers’ association, was urged by his family to stop raising the reptiles.
Sameth said Nam’s family will likely sell his crocodiles.
In 2019, a 2-year-old girl was killed and eaten by one of the crocodiles at her family’s farm in the same village.
According to the Telegraph, saltwater crocodiles have the strongest bite known in the animal kingdom, with the bite force of 3,700 pounds per square inch. By comparison, tigers and lions have a bite force of only 1,000 pounds per square inch.
