Indonesian crocodile stuck in tyre freed from five-year ordeal
- Conservation workers have been trying to catch the 5.2-metre reptile to free it from its misery, but with no luck
- Local villager Tili used ropes and chicken as bait in a three-week effort to lure the beast. ‘I hate seeing animals trapped and suffering,’ he said
A wild crocodile in Indonesia who was trapped in a tyre for more than five years has been rescued, freed from its rubber vice and released back into the wild, officials and residents said on Tuesday.
Conservation workers have been trying to lure the stricken saltwater crocodile from a river since 2016 after residents of Palu city on Sulawesi island spotted the animal with a motorbike tyre wrapped around its neck.
But it was a local resident who snared the 5.2-metre (17 foot) long reptile – who was regularly seen sunbathing in the Palu river in Central Sulawesi – from its tight squeeze late on Monday.
Tili, a 34-year-old bird-seller, used chicken as bait and ropes to catch the beast at the end of what he said was a three-week rescue effort, before dozens of locals helped to drag the crocodile to shore and cut the tyre around its neck.
“I just wanted to help, I hate seeing animals trapped and suffering,” said Tili, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.
His first two attempts to rescue the croc failed because the ropes were not strong enough to contend with its weight, he said, before turning to nylon ropes used for tugging boats.
“I was already exhausted so I let them finish the rescue, the crocodile was unbelievably heavy, everybody was sweating and getting very tired.”