A massive operation to round up thousands of escaped crocodiles has intensified in South Africa.
"A thousand have already been caught," police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Friday.
About half of the 15,000 reptiles at the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in Limpopo province escaped last Sunday amid torrential rain. The owners were forced to open the gates to prevent a storm surge.
The reptiles have scattered far and wide. One was spotted next to a shopping mall in the town of Musina 120km away.
Disaster managers brought in to help the operation stressed there was little risk of crocodile attacks, especially with a small army working to round up the rogue reptiles.
"It's not something we should all worry about," said spokeswoman Dieketseng Diale. "It's like Crocodile Dundee down here," she added.
Efforts to capture the crocodiles are taking place mostly at night, when their red eyes can be spotted with a light.
Farm spokesman Zane Langman told eNCA TV that most were small and easy to catch.
"The majority are 2.5 metres and less, so ... we just basically jump on their backs and tie them up, load them up and taking them back to enclosures," he said. Bigger ones were trickier, he admitted.
"We tie straps around their mouths... then tie the legs behind the back, inject them with a solution that's basically a muscle-relaxant."
