A Cambodian farmer of Po Banteay Chey village in Siem Reap, 72 old, named Luan Nam, president of the local crocodile farmers’ association, was attacked and killed by his owned 40 crocodiles on Friday, when he was attempting to wrangle one of the reptiles. He entered the enclosure to remove one of the crocs from a cage where it had laid eggs. His body was torn apart after he was killed and the water in the enclosure turned red with Nam’s blood. The body was later recovered and transported to the family home.
One of his arms had been eaten by the crocodiles. Crocodiles have the most powerful bite force of any animal. There are a number of crocodile farms around Siem Reap. The reptiles are kept for their eggs, skins and meat as well as the trade in their young. Cambodia’s crocodile farms breed and sell live crocodiles, often to buyers in China, Thailand and Vietnam, where they are harvested to make crocodile leather and other products. Cambodia’s first commercial crocodile farms, where wild-caught individuals were kept and bred for their body parts, were established in the 1940s. By 2016, approximately 900 farms in Cambodia were estimated to have a stock of more than 250,000 crocodiles.
