Crocodile attacks are a rare occurrence in Iran

A 12-year-old Iranian boy has been killed in a rare attack by a marsh crocodile, reports say.

He was swimming in a river with friends in a conservation reserve in the south-east of the country, newspapers report.

The Iranian Short-Muzzle Crocodile, known by local people as the Gando grows up to five metres (15 feet) in length and has a reputation for timidity.

Local officials expressed surprise over the attack.

It is "a very rare and shocking incident since we feed the crocodiles with fish, chickens and even baby goats," the director of the local environmental office was quoted as saying.

"The animal must have been agitated by the swimmers," he told the Quds newspaper.

About 250 crocodiles are thought to live in Iran's province of Sistan-Baluchestan near the Pakistani border.