Escaped Chinese crocodiles all captured

BEIJING - Dozens of crocodiles that escaped a flooded Chinese farm have all been recaptured, state media reported on Tuesday, a week after the reptilian runaways wriggled free.

More than 70 reptiles escaped from a commercial crocodile farm in the southern Chinese city of Maoming earlier this month after a typhoon inundated the area.

Authorities in Guangdong Province launched an expansive hunt, with state broadcaster CCTV running footage of workers in rain boots dragging a crocodile out of the water with a rope.

"The escaped Siamese crocodiles have all been caught, with the last one being hauled to shore on the night of September 18," the Communist Party-run Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

Beijing News footage showed a dozen crocodiles wriggling in mud with their jaws bound shut with fabric and rope, as workers stood among them holding umbrellas.

The escapees included 69 fully grown crocodiles and two juveniles, Beijing News said.

Crocodiles are bred in China for their skin as well as their meat, which is sometimes used in traditional medicine.

The affected area is also home to a "crocodile theme park" and "the country's largest crocodile breeding base", according to China National Radio.

Parts of Guangdong province, including the city of Shenzhen, were hit earlier this month by the heaviest rain since records began in 1952. - AFP