An Indonesian woman has been mauled to death by a pet crocodile in Sulawesi after she fell into its enclosure.

Deasy Tuwo, 44, had reportedly been feeding the crocodile at the pearl farm where she worked, and where the animal was being kept illegally.

The 700kg crocodile, named Merry, is thought to have bitten off her arm and most of her abdomen.

The reptile has been relocated to a conservation site while authorities look for its owner.

Ms Tuwo was head of the laboratory at the pearl farm and was feeding Merry on 10 January when she fell into the crocodile’s enclosure.

Her colleagues discovered her body the next morning.

Hendriks Rundengan from the North Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) told BBC Indonesian that officials had tried to visit the facility several times in the past to remove the crocodile but had not been allowed in.

“We’ve come here a few times but the fences are always locked,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

According to AFP, authorities believe Ms Tuwo’s body parts may still be inside the 4.4m-long crocodile.

Police are now trying to track down a Japanese national who owns both the farm and the crocodile.