Dozens of crocodiles escape Thai farm

An urgent hunt was under way near the popular Thai beach resort of Pattaya on Tuesday after at least 20 crocodiles escaped from a flooded farm, a spokesman said. The crocodiles at Million Years Stone Park, a zoo and reptile farm, are thought to have made a break for freedom Sunday when heavy rains caused a mudslide around an enclosure containing thousands of the creatures, said a spokesman for the farm, Suthawuth Temthab. Farm workers and locals had joined in the search for the missing reptiles and he said over 20 crocodiles had already been found, but a few more were still on the loose. Suthawuth predicted most of the rest would be rounded up on Tuesday. Thai television ran images of large crocodiles being returned to the farm with their jaws tied shut and carried by up to six men. On its website, the Million Years Stone Park, which is 100 kilometres (62 miles) southeast of Bangkok, says it has the "largest population of salt water crocodiles in this country" as well as smaller fresh water crocodiles and other exotic animals.