Soldiers catch more runaway crocs

HANOI (Reuters) - Soldiers and rangers have captured 88 crocodiles which escaped from a breeding farm in a central Vietnam province, but hundreds more are still on the loose, officials said Wednesday.

They said soldiers shot dead eight fresh water crocodiles and returned those captured to the breeding farm in Khanh Hoa province where raging floodwaters broke cages Saturday, allowing the crocodiles to escape.

The hunting team of army, rangers and local militia captured 23 crocodiles Wednesday, bringing to 88 those caught in the past four days, said Tran Minh Thu, head of the provincial Ranger Department's inspection unit.

"They did not run too far and they were all caught within the area near the farm," Thu said. "All of them are of commercial value for their skin and meat."

Local people also slaughtered seven crocodiles themselves, Thu said. Officials said they do not know exactly how many crocodiles escaped, but estimate there could be hundreds.

The farm run by a Vietnamese firm, Khanh Viet Corp, was registered to raise 5,544 crocodiles. The farm is legal and breeds crocodiles to supply the skin and meat.

Officials said the fresh water crocodiles can attack people and animals while inland but they cannot survive in sea water, making it unlikely they would appear on sandy beaches popular among tourists.

Parts of central Vietnam have been under water from flooding since early last month, with more than 300 people killed in a series of storms that brought heavy rain and raised river levels.

(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh, editing by Grant McCool)