A grandfather was left with severe injuries after a crocodile snatched his arm at a popular park.
Locals believed the reptile was tame, and often visited the ‘lucky’ croc which had been saved from a flood last week.
The animal was kept at a local theme park for residents to make offerings in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Things took a turn when an elderly man reached out to offer food to the predator when I latched onto his arm and pulled him into the waters below.
Onlookers screamed as the man was lashed back and forth in the croc’s jaws before it eventually released him. Firefighters arrived at the Cimory Dairyland centre to take the man to hospital.
He was left with a severely injured arm.
Siti Aisyah witnessed the chaos and said: ‘The grandfather was bitten by a crocodile when he wanted to give him food.’
The local fire department chief Hasanuddin said the croc was caught in a flooded residential area on February 12 before being kept at the Cimory tourist attraction, which also includes mini-windmills, dairy animals and farming exhibitions.
Bosses had hoped that locals would visit to give donations to the crocodile, but have surrendered the crocodile to be released by qualified wildlife workers.
Hasanuddin said: ‘When we arrived, residents were already crowded at the location and directed us to the victim, so the evacuation process was quick.
‘We received information that this crocodile was previously seen near a landfill and had laid eggs on land. If there is one female crocodile, there is likely a male crocodile still lurking around.’
The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 types of crocs – with a large population of extremely large and violent estuarine crocodiles that flourish in the region’s climate.
Conservationists believe that crocodiles have been driven further inland closer to villages due to overfishing reducing the crocodiles’ natural food supplies combined with habitat loss.
Many locals still use rivers for bathing and primitive fishing, the deadly combination of factors has led to rising numbers of crocodile attacks.
In December, a killer croc was filmed resurfacing with the body of a 46-year-old woman in its jaws hours after mauling her to death.
Nurhawati Zihura decided to wash her feet in some seawater when the crocodile grabbed her.
Locals ventured into the waters in boats, throwing chicken at the crocodile to try and distract it from the dead body.
When the Croc eventually did let her go, helpers pulled her out of the water and took Nurhawati back to shore.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
