South African police are looking for a dangerous band of young crocodiles escaped from a farm in the south of the country, we learned from the authorities on Thursday.
The exact number of these Nile crocodiles having packed themselves through a hole in the fence of the farm, located more than 150 km east of Cape Town, remains to be determined.
Police have set up a “dedicated team” to track down reptiles measuring between 1.2 and 1.5 meters in length, said CapeNature, the province’s environmental service.
The breeder realized Wednesday morning “that there was a hole in the fence and that a so far not determined number of crocodiles had escaped”, explained to AFP James-Brent Styan , spokesperson for the province’s Ministry of the Environment.
Police, environmental associations, landowners and farmers “are conducting research” concentrated around the nearby Breede River, he said.
They have already recovered 27 young crocs.
Their capture is done through “human traps, namely cages in which are placed bait, arranged along the river,” said Razeena Omar, CEO of Cape Nature in a statement.