Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, evacuated a section of Tamarindo Beach after a visitor from the United States was mutilated by a terrible bite from a large reptile.

The incident took place on Monday morning near the estuary of this Costa Rica coastal community, which is very popular among North American and European tourists and expats. The victim was identified as a middle-aged surfer from Arizona.

According to a news report filed by Jose Alvarado Brenes of daily tabloid Diario Extra, witnesses were not sure if the reptile was a crocodile or caiman as the latter creatures are known to migrate all the way from Cano Negro to Tamarindo Beach during the rainy season. Both crocs and caimans have been spotted feeding on the break even as they get thrashed by powerful, yet sloppy, swells.

The terrible bite tore off the surfer’s lower right leg, sending him into shock. He was rushed to Liberia, specifically to the Enrique Baltodano Briceño Hospital, a facility administered by the public health system of Costa Rica. The patient was admitted to the triage operating room, were his leg was amputated as he received blood transfusions. He no longer requires intensive care, although he is undergoing antibiotic therapy and is being carefully monitored for systemic infections.

Witnesses told Hugo Solano and Rebeca Alvarez of national newspaper La Nacion that there may have been a dozen surfers, most of them foreign visitors, on that particular spot at the time of the attack. The victim bravely fought off the reptile after the initial bite.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, biologists and wildlife experts in Tamarindo Beach have urged visitors and residents to give crocodiles the space they deserve.

Last year, anglers casting their lines in the Tamarindo estuary noticed a significant increase in the number of large reptiles in the area. In the last few years, two other croc attacks on surfers have taken place in this same coastal community of the Guanacaste province.