Ratchaburi officials puzzled as crocodile turns up in rice field
A crocodile weighing about 100 kilograms was captured in a rice field in Muang Ratchaburi late Monday night.
It came as quite a surprise because the area is not a natural habitat for the reptiles and there are no crocodile farms nearby.
Ratana Phutabtim of the Pathom Borom Rajanusorn Foundation heard via police radio that a crocodile had been found in the paddy field in Ban Khok Jaeng, Tambon Khao Raeng.
He was there by 11pm, prodding at a 1.8-metre-long croc to try and get it to move so it could be harnessed more easily.
Once captured, it was taken to a pen at foundation headquarters, and on Tuesday, Ratchaburi chief fisheries officer Dr Chanin Saengrungruang gave it a temporary home at a nurturing centre for freshwater creatures in Tambon Namphu.
The crocodile will later be released in Nakhon Sawan.
Chanin said the crocodile, which he estimated to be about two years old, might have been someone’s pet that was discarded once it got too big.
He suspected the owner released it in a farmer’s field rather than contacting authorities because raising a crocodile requires a licence.
