Extraordinary pictures show police airlifting massive crocodile suspected of eating man in South African bush

NewsWorldAfricaExtraordinary pictures show police airlifting massive crocodile suspected of eating man in South African bushA desperate search for a missing resident with drones and helicopters led police to a bask of crocodilesJames C. Reynolds Wednesday 06 May 2026 11:22 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2971297","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/south-africa-police-crocodile-resident-b2971297.html","title":"South African police airlift huge crocodile suspected of eating a local"}}ClosePolice airlift crocodile from river on suspicion of eating missing businessmanOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Africa","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}This is the astonishing moment p...