The Missing Body Of Ayuka Timika Papuans Found In The Belly Of A Big Crocodile

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

TIMIKA - A number of human remains were found in the stomach of a large crocodile killed by residents of Ayuka. It is suspected that it was the body of Damianus Yauta (30), a resident of Tipuka Village who was reported missing since Thursday, January 20.

Head of the Timika Search and Rescue (SAR) Office, George L. Mercy Randang, said that the joint SAR team and the residents of the Tipuka and Ayuka communities had been combing the Ayuka River, which was the last location for the victim to be attacked by a crocodile.

The late Damianus Yauta, a mangrove crab seeker from Tipuka Village was declared missing when he was about to clean up the mangrove crabs he found in the Ayuka River, to be exact, about one kilometer from the first bridge to Kargodok, Amamapare Harbor.

"The victim was found by the search team, the community and the victim's family who were conducting a sweep at the scene. When found, the victim's body was still in the crocodile's mouth so the community decided to kill the crocodile by using spears so that the victim's body could be removed," explained George as quoted by Antara, Friday, January 21.

After the giant crocodile was killed, the victim's body was then removed and immediately evacuated by the joint SAR Team to a relative's house in Ayuka Village.

The crocodile that preyed on the victim was also carried by the residents to the house of the victim's relative.

Local residents then held a traditional ritual before autopsy the stomach of the predatory crocodile because some of the victim's body parts were no longer there.

Sure enough, after the predatory crocodile's stomach was split open, it was found that several pieces of the victim's body were left in the stomach of the wild amphibian animal.

Cases of crocodiles preying on local residents quite often occur in a number of villages in the coastal area of Mimika which are filled with large and wide rivers overgrown with thick mangrove trees, becoming an excellent habitat for crocodiles to thrive.

The increased activity of local residents in rivers and mangrove forest areas to look for crabs, shrimp, fish and other river products has disrupted the crocodile's habitat.

Not a few crocodiles are also hunted by residents in addition to taking their meat as well as for their skin, which has a high value in the market.