South African police hunt for man-eating crocodiles after farm escape

Police and conservation officers were continuing their search on Friday for an unknown number of crocodiles that escaped from a breeding farm in South Africa.

According to a BBC report, an unknown number of Nile crocodiles, widespread in Africa, escaped from a Bonnievale commercial breeding farm into the Bree River on Wednesday.

The escaped crocodiles, with a reputation as man-eaters, are 1.2 and 1.5 metres in length.

Bred mainly for leather products, the freshwater crocodiles can grow to an average length of five metres, with adult males weighing more than half a tonne.

Petro van Rhyn, a spokeswoman for CapeNature conversation agency told Reuters that they’ve captured 26 crocodiles at this point but can’t say how many are still on the loose.

Western Cape provincial government spokesman James-Brent Styan has urged people to steer clear of the river.

“They present medium danger to people because they are farmed animals used to regular feeding and do not hunt for food, but they are wild and instinctive animals,” he was quoted telling Reuters.