Indonesian Scientist Eaten Alive By Crocodile As She Fed It

A scientist at a laboratory in Indonesia is thought to have been eaten alive by a crocodile that she was feeding at the facility, according to the Daily Mail.

Officials at the laboratory believe that the crocodile, who goes by the name Merry, is likely to have stood on its hind legs and jumped up to eight feet off the ground in order to grab hold of the scientist and drag her into the enclosure.

The 44-year-old Deasy Tuwo was last seen throwing meat into the crocodile’s pool during feeding time on Friday morning. The crocodile was later found with her remains still in its jaws within the enclosure at the CV Yosiki Laboratory, located in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Tuwo’s colleagues only realized what had happened later in the morning when someone spotted a strange shape under the water inside the enclosure. They later found the crocodile with her body in its jaws.

Erling Rumengan, a colleague of Tuwo, was one of those who discovered that she had been eaten. He described the horrific moment to reporters saying, “We were curious when we looked at the crocodile pool, there was a floating object. It was Deasy’s body.

“We were afraid to touch it and we immediately report the incident at the Tombariri police station,” he continued. “It’s possible the crocodile jumped from the side. Maybe it’s because the crocodile was still full, it didn’t finish eating her body.”

They said that while Merry had been known to attack other crocodiles in the past, it had never shown any inclination to attack humans before. It was usually fed a combination of chicken, tuna and red meat.

Efforts to recover Tuwo’s body proved extremely difficult as the crocodile was reluctant to let go of its prey. It reportedly thrashed about violently every time officials tried to fish the corpse out of the water.

Merry has since been captured and taken to a wildlife rescue center in nearby Bitung district for medical tests to confirm that it had indeed eaten Tuwo. The crocodile is believed to be owned by a Japanese businessman who was not at the center at the time of the attack.

The local police chief, Raswin Sirait, told the media, “We are still looking for the owner of the crocodile… I believe the owner must acknowledge this horrible incident. But we have neither seen him nor know where he is.

“We also need to know if he is legally permitted to own crocodiles and other expensive aquatics in his company,” he added. “If there is no permit, he will be detained.”