Villagers in Zimbabwe shot and cut open a crocodile after suspecting that the massive reptile has eaten an eight-year-old boy, local reports said.
The boy was reportedly attacked by the crocodile at the Hunyani River in Mushumbi, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe. Gruesome footage showing some villagers slashing the belly of the crocodile and pulling the boy's remains surfaced online.
As the villagers were dissecting the crocodile, the hand of the boy appeared, confirming that they caught the beast who attacked him, ZimEye reports.
The boy who was not named was given a funeral and buried in the village two days later.
Meanwhile, The Sun reported that in a separate incident, another crocodile was shot dead in a farming community in the province of Mashonaland East. Remains of a suspected fisherman was also found inside the crocodile's belly.
As explained by UNILAD, the rising crocodile attacks in Zimbabwe might have been caused by the heavy downpour that the community has been experiencing recently. The flooding caused by heavy downpour carried the crocodiles from sites where they are normally not found.
Melissa Hogenboom of BBC reported that a study conducted by researchers in the U.K. noted that crocodile attacks are often seasonal. They are most prevalent during rainfall, when temperature increases or when it's their breeding season.
The study also added that most attacks took place while people were swimming and that boys were attacked most often.
Different crocodile species live in many different regions around the world, including South Africa, Australia, Zimbabwe and Florida.
Nile crocodile, the second largest extant reptile in the world, next to saltwater crocodiles is found in Zimbabwe. With its razor sharp teeth and strong jaws, it is known as a "man-eater," National Geographic cited.
In Africa alone, there are several hundred crocodile attacks on humans per year, and most of it occur in small communities.
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