In Aceh province, Indonesia, a regular morning routine turned into a tragedy for 68-year-old M Yunus.
On a typical Thursday, Yunus informed his wife, Dimyam, that he was heading to the Peureulak River behind their home for a bath.
However, hours passed without his return, raising concerns.
A Chilling Discovery
Dimyam, worried about her husband’s absence, went to the river to check on him.
To her horror, she only found his clothes and mobile phone on the grassy riverbank.
Fearing the worst, she rushed back to the village to alert the police and her family.
Search for Yunus
Local police chief Iptu Andi Ananta Grilya Utama explained that Dimyam had informed their son, who lives in Langsa.
Emergency services, rescue teams, and volunteers began scouring the river for Yunus, but hours of searching yielded no results.
Grim Findings
The search came to a heartbreaking conclusion on the morning of August 30, when the East Aceh Regional Disaster Management Agency discovered Yunus’s body about a mile downstream.
His upper body was missing, leading authorities to believe he had been attacked and devoured by a crocodile.
A Dangerous Predator
The remains were taken home for a funeral, but his upper body, head, and arms have yet to be recovered.
Later, a group of farm workers found a large, lifeless crocodile near a palm oil plantation, sparking suspicion that it might be the one responsible for Yunus’s death.
However, after cutting it open, no human remains were found inside.
The incident has left villagers on edge, fearful of carrying out their daily activities near the river.
The Rising Threat
The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 types of crocodiles, including large and aggressive estuarine crocodiles.
Conservationists believe these reptiles are being driven closer to human settlements due to habitat loss and overfishing, which depletes their natural food sources.
As a result, crocodile attacks have been on the rise in the region.
A Series of Fatal Attacks
Yunus’s tragic fate is not an isolated incident.
Just last month, a 54-year-old grandmother named Halima Rahakbauw was killed by a 12-foot crocodile while washing pots in a river in Wali village, Maluku islands.
Authorities found her body inside the crocodile and shot the reptile dead.
A Growing Problem
In 2018, a mob in Papua, Indonesia, killed nearly 300 crocodiles in retaliation after a local man was killed by one.
The following year, a scientist was dragged into an enclosure and killed by a captive crocodile on the island of Sulawesi.
These incidents highlight the growing tension between humans and crocodiles in the region, as development and environmental changes continue to bring them into closer contact.
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