On November 11, the Department of Rural Development and Forest Protection of Can Tho City informed the verification of a crocodile appearing in Nhon My commune.
Accordingly, on November 6, people in Phung Tuong 2 hamlet discovered a crocodile about 1.5m long, weighing 30 - 40kg, floating on the canal water leading into the garden ditch. When someone appeared, the crocodile had sunk away. This information was received by the People's Committee of Nhon My commune with photos.
On November 8, the Department of Rural Development and Forest Protection of Can Tho City coordinated with local authorities, police forces, militia and people to go to the scene to check, verify and make a statement. Through on-site inspection, the authorities did not detect the above crocodile. During the monitoring period from the time of discovery until November 8, the crocodile did not appear again.
However, the authorities recommend that people living around be vigilant, especially not letting children swim in rivers, canals, and ditches near the area. When detecting crocodiles, people need to immediately report to local authorities for timely handling measures.
Through monitoring data of households registered to raise crocodiles with the relevant authorities and local information and neighboring communes and wards of Phung Tuong 2 Hamlet, Nhon My Commune, no facility registered to raise crocodiles.
According to statistics, in Can Tho City, there are currently 10 facilities registered to raise freshwater crocodiles with a total of 4,769 individuals, concentrated in Thanh Tri, Gia Hoa, Hoa Tu communes and Khanh Hoa and Vinh Phuoc wards.
On October 30, the Department of Rural Development and Forest Protection conducted a field inspection, reminding households registered to raise wild and fierce animals to regularly check and reinforce the cages to ensure safety, ensuring that livestock cannot escape during the rainy season, rising river water and when they escape, they must take measures to surround and capture them, not affecting people, causing public panic.
The Department of Rural Development and Forest Protection of Can Tho City recommends that press and media agencies carefully verify information before posting articles about wild animals, ensuring accuracy, objectivity and honesty, avoiding public panic and affecting people's lives.
For the People's Committees of communes and wards with households raising crocodiles and aggressive wild animals, the authorities require regular inspections of cages and timely reminders to prevent cage gates. When discovering wild animals with cages, localities must take quick measures to capture them.
