"At least 12 crocodiles have died of starvation on a farm in Serui near Chegutu while another 258 are close to death after going without food since November last year," The Herald said.

The newspaper said some of the four-year-old reptiles which were kept in four dry ponds, showed signs of serious skin damage due to exposure to the sun.

The crocodiles were on a farm allocated to the chief executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Karikoga Kaseke, under the country's controversial land reforms.

Kaseke denied responsibility for the death of the animals, saying he was only shown the farm, and was awaiting a letter from government to move onto the property.

Officials from the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA) came to the giant reptiles' rescue following a tip-off from a worker at the farm, and took them to a sanctuary near Harare, The Herald said.

An official from ZNSPCA said the society approached the Parks and Wildlife Authority after Kaseke ignored a warning letter from the animal rights group.

A spokesman for the Parks and Wildlife Authority, Edward Mbewe, told AFP authorities were looking for the owner of the farm who faces arrest for abandoning the animals.

Zimbabwe launched controversial and often chaotic land reforms six years ago seizing properties from white commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

Some farmers abandoned their properties when the land reforms turned bloody.

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