Thai crocodile farm slammed after pictures of tourists on precarious-looking platform go viral
A crocodile farm in Pattaya, Thailand, has had its licence revoked for 90 days after safety concerns were raised about its crocodile feeding activity.
Pictures of Chinese tourists balancing precariously on a floating platform while feeding dozens of crocodiles were posted to Twitter on Friday.
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The feeding frenzy took place at the popular tourist attraction, Anachak Chang Pattaya, also known as the Elephant Kingdom.
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While the tourists looked like they were having the time of their lives dangling raw meat with hungry crocs circling below them, netizens criticised the farm for negligence.
The overwhelming concern drove the Thai Fisheries Department to act quickly to shut down the farm to investigate it, reported The Bangkok Post.
Despite the farm owner's insistence that its feeding cages were safe and that all activities were closely supervised, the director-general of the Thai Fisheries Department, Adisorn Promthep, remained sceptical.
Promthep told reporters that the Elephant Kingdom was in a violation of a regulation issued under the 1992 Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act, that required all animal and wildlife attractions to ensure the safety of visitors and those living nearby.
The Elephant Kingdom will remain closed for 90 days until it improves on its safety measures.
The farm is home to some 4,300 crocodiles and gharials and is a popular destination for tourists eager to get up close to these snappy predators. Elephant Kingdom gets up to 500 visitors a day.
The controversial feeding cage is a wooden platform-raft that measures 5 by 10 metres and has a 1.5 metre high wired fence around it. It's supposed to be able to hold up to 10 to 15 people.
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