A crocodile was shot dead after it ate a second-grade student.

Local police dragged the killed crocodile,two metres in length, 150 kilograms in weight out of the pond in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region April 21,2007. The crocodiles has eaten a nine-year-old child and then was shot to death by the sinpers.[sina.com]

Two men with rifles killed the animal Saturday evening at a recreational park called Silver Beach, in Beihai City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, after receiving approval from the local forestry department.

On Friday evening, the victim and three other students climbed over the fence penning the crocodiles. It was an area that had been temporarily closed.

One of the children who survived the ordeal told reporters they got into the pond after school when the pond keeper was absent.

The children shot the animals with sling shots and beat them with wooden sticks. One of the irritated crocodiles dragged the 9-year-old boy surnamed Liu into the pond and was eaten.

Another villager said the keeper was not seen for several days and so the crocodiles may have been hungry.

The park operator said the crocodiles performed in shows, but the performances were closed due to lawsuit disputes.

The operator and the pond keeper were taken to the police and the authorities are investigating the incident, a local official said.

It was not the first time the crocodiles shocked local residents. In August 2005, two crocodiles went into sewage pipes that led to a bathing area nearby. Not long after, another one swam into a neighboring shrimp farm.

Local officials are now looking into the security measures to protect people from dangerous animals like crocodiles, sharks, snakes in Beihai city after the tragedy.