More than 70 crocodiles on the loose after flooding in China

Crocodiles are bred in China for their skin and meat [File: Rula Rouhana/Reuters]

Authorities in southern China have launched an operation to find more than 70 crocodiles that escaped when floods hit the region in recent days.

A typhoon brought sustained heavy rains to southern China last week. Deluges around the city of Maoming in Guangdong province caused a lake at a commercial crocodile farm to overflow with more than 70 crocodiles escaping, local media reported.