Recently in Dongguan, Guangdong, the city experienced heavy to torrential rain. In a surprising turn of events, two crocodiles were spotted on the streets of Fenggang Town, causing fear among nearby residents. One of the crocodiles is still missing to this day.
According to a report from the “New Beijing News,” on June 16th, near Fengxiang Road in Fenggang Town, Dongguan, a crocodile was seen, and local residents managed to control the crocodile’s head using a plastic basket.
A video circulating online shows a crocodile about one meter long crawling on the roadside, with several men nearby using a plastic basket to restrain its head, rendering it immobile. They then tied it up with a rope before firefighters arrived at the scene and took the crocodile away for handling.
But the situation didn’t end there. On the night of the 16th, residents once again alerted authorities when another crocodile appeared in a thicket in the direction of Dongsheng Road towards Yantian in Yongshengpu. Firefighters equipped themselves and rushed to the scene, but despite multiple searches, the second crocodile has yet to be found.
Workers from the Fenggang Brigade of the Dongguan Firefighting and Rescue Squadron indicated on June 17th that they speculate the crocodiles escaped from nearby farms due to flooding caused by heavy rain and were identified as Yangtze alligators. As of 11:00 on the 17th, the whereabouts of the crocodiles remain unknown.
It has been preliminarily confirmed that both crocodiles are Chinese national first-class protected animals known as “Yangtze alligators.”
Firefighters speculate that the recent heavy rain causing flooding in the area may have led to the crocodiles escaping from the flooded farm areas and making their way to the streets.
On June 14th, most parts of Guangdong Province had cloudy to overcast skies with Dongguan, Huizhou, the southern part of Heyuan, the southern part of Meizhou, and most coastal areas in eastern Guangdong experiencing heavy to torrential rain, some areas even facing exceptionally heavy rainfall.
According to meteorological monitoring data, from 8:00 to 17:00 on June 14th, 20 towns experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall, 62 towns had heavy rainfall, and 189 towns had rain. The forecast predicts that heavy rain will continue in Guangdong for the next three days, with some subway services temporarily suspended.