Crocs rescued from Thai floods
18/10/2006 23:21  - (SA)  

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Monsoon floods hit Thailand Monsoon floods hit Thailand Thai flood death toll at 62 100 feared dead in Thai floods

Uthai Thani - Workers at a flood-threatened crocodile farm in central Thailand rushed on Wednesday to move hundreds of the reptiles to higher ground to stop them from swimming away.

Authorities in the central province of Uthai Thani, 220km north of Bangkok, ordered the evacuation of about 4 000 crocodiles on Sunday, most of them kept in pens alongside a river swollen from monsoon rains.

"I am confident that these crocodiles will not swim away from my farm, but I have to move them to other farms for the sake of public safety," said farm owner Amorn Jittapinitmas, who has raised crocodiles for meat and skin for 35 years.

The reptiles, ranging from palm-sized newborns to 20-year-old breeding parents more than three metres in length, are first rendered unconscious with an electric prod.

Workers then tie their snouts, legs and tails and row them in boats to nearby farms.

"The relocation is 100% safe because they are tied up with tight ropes.

"If there is a boat accident, the crocodiles would not hurt people, but they would die," said Amorn.

The 60-strong team has worked around the clock and expected to move the last 200 crocodiles by the weekend, he said.

- Reuters

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