Port Moresby - Authorities in Papua New Guinea ordered police to search part of a remote island after locals told of seeing a giant dinosaur-like creature roaming the area, local media reported Friday.
Villagers on the island of New Britain this week reported seeing a three-metre tall, grey-coloured beast with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile, The National newspaper recounted.
Christine Samei told reporters she saw the "dinosaur" early on Wednesday in a marsh just outside the provincial capital Kokopo on the eastern end of New Britain.
"I heard the people talking about it and went there to see for myself. Its very huge and ugly looking animal," Samei said.
A local ward councillor, Michael Tarawana, told the newspaper that villagers said the creature had been sighted by women on several occasions and had reportedly eaten three dogs.
On Thursday, six police officers armed with M-16 assault rifles and villagers carrying bush knives searched the marsh new Tinganavudu village but found no trace of the creature, The National said. The search was confirmed by government officials in the capital, Port Moresby.
The police officer who led Thursday's hunt, Sergeant Leuth Nidung, said a new search involving 30 officers would be organised to do a more thorough sweep of the area.
He urged villagers in the meantime to remain alert and take extra care when walking to their gardens or the sea, the newspaper said.
Black magic and other superstitions are common in many parts of PNG's predominantly village-based society. - Sapa-AFP