Thailand's floods have washed over crocodile farms pens and swept the reptiles downstream to Bangkok's northern suburbs threatening to make a meal out of residents of townhouse subdivisions there.

Crocodile catchers are hunting and tying up the animals before they could harm people and to earn money by returning these alive to their owners in exchange for up to $165 per head.

Thailand's Department of Fisheries is leading the hunt for more than 100 escaped crocodiles with catchers using electric shock to subdue the animals. But the uncontrollable and aggressive ones are shot to dead.

The number refers to those that broke loose from Ayutthaya province alone, according to reports. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. put the figure at 1,000.

But there are about 200,000 mostly Siamese variety crocs being bred in 30 farms across the country, the Lede quoted reporter Seth Mydans of the New York Times. The animals' skins are exported for making leather goods.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Thai authorities as saying that there are more than 800 crocodile farms with tens of thousands of reptiles.

Nantarika Chansue, president of the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarian Society, said there are also illegally kept wild animals on the loose though some, including three tigers, have been recovered.

Reports say a few of the escaped crocodiles have been caught or killed so far since the weekend. The catchers, locally known as kraetong, will know the number as they do their job.