Crocodiles slaughtered - what a sad thing ?

Well it does seem a slightly over the top reaction, but think about the daft protests there have been when a violent dog is destroyed after having mauled a child.

I guess the villages didn't know which of the crocs was the culprit so played safe

They will have seen the crocs as a threat, though. It's a Muslim country but there are still a lot of animist beliefs, so they may well have considered that the crocs had evil spirits or something along those lines.

It's very hard to understand the mind set when you're used to a Western POV.

My feeling was principally that it seemed the primary motivation was revenge on the crocodiles.
Everybody knows that crocodiles are natural killers and the idea of “punishing”them for simply doing what is in their nature I find abhorrent. Of course I have pity for the poor man who was killed, but wandering into a crocodile farm?

I've lived in Indonesia and I think it's important to understand the cultural differences between such a country and the West.

They don't regard dogs and cats as pets as we do, they have to earn their living, and wild creatures are very often thought of as threats rather than something to be preserved. When you yourself are living hand to mouth, as many do, animals are low down on your priorities, unfortunately.

Its a crocodile farm so these crocs are destined to become handbags. Whatever our feelings about that, on reflection I have some sympathy for the villagers.
Maybe even if this poor man is the first to have been eaten by these beasts, it's something the villagers have been expressing concern about since the 'farm' began.

We were on a boat trip in NQ and the captain showed us where a 5 year old boy had been taken by a crocodile - his farm was nearby but he had just wandered away one day.

I used to work with a Ghanaian lady. She did not have a good word for crocodiles. She called them "wicked creatures".
She grew up on a pineapple farm, and had personal experience of crocodiles. She would go out of her way to find a bridge, and not cross a river by boat.

I bet that poor man was half-starved and desperately trying to find some grass to feed his one cow.

When I visited a crocodile farm I thought it was full of rescued crocodiles - until the guide pointed out which ones were for Gucci, which for Luis Vuitton, Chanel, Versace, Hermès etc

It didn't taste very nice either.

Yes horrible act. But these poor creatures would be slaughtered without much thought when it suited the owners. Its a cruel world out there.

West Papua - I would be more worried about the people who live there who are being persecuted by the Indonesian Government and the lack of publicity by the world's press about this than I would about crocodiles.

www.freewestpapua.org/news/

If they are being farmed they will end up as handbags, belts etc - it seems a waste but heigh-ho - revenge is sweet.
Sorry, I have not a jot of love or sympathy for crocodiles and cannot see why they are protected in Australia and not culled.

Sorry Maw!