LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA - Mystery surrounds the death of some 50 baby crocodiles at a leading tourist attraction here.

The operator of Taman Buaya Langkawi, suspecting foul play, has lodged a report with the police.

District police chief Superintendent Ishak Hassan said the operator suspected something amiss with his reptiles after a few of them appeared belly-up in the pond on Monday.

"It started with just a few reptiles in the morning.

"By mid-day, the number of dead crocodiles had risen to 10."

He said the number grew to about 50 yesterday with many more appearing sickly," he said yesterday.

Losses from the deaths of the crocodiles, aged between three and eight months and reared in a special pond at the crocodile park, were estimated at about RM75,000.

Ishak said the state Veterinary and Chemistry departments had taken samples from the pond and the reptiles' stomachs to ascertain if they were poisoned.

He said police would record statements from the park's workers as part of its investigations.

Operations at the crocodile park, a popular tourist destination, proceeded smoothly despite the mysterious deaths of the baby reptiles since the adult crocodiles were not affected.

Efforts to contact the operator of the crocodile park for comments on the mysterious deaths proved futile.

Set up under a special breeding programme more than 10 years ago, the crocodile park rears the Crocodylus porosus species, which is twice as strong and bigger than the Nile crocodile or the American alligator.

The park has since developed into the largest crocodile farm in the country and has become a major tourist attraction.

--NST