KOTA KINABALU: A process of "deduction and elimination" helped wildlife rangers pick out and kill a man-eating crocodile in Sabah's East coast Tawau district on Sunday (July 23).
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the rangers were surveying the crocodile infested area around Kg Sungai Mas Mas for a while and zoomed in on the largest reptile within the area.
"The one they (rangers) shot was the biggest one in the search area. It surfaced, they got the right culprit, it was also a bit of luck.
"Others were juveniles so they spared them because they considered them small crocodiles unable to cause fatal attack on humans," he said when contacted.
He said rangers recorded a total of about 11-12 juvenile crocodiles in the area while the only crocodile would be the likely culprit to have attacked the missing man whose crushed body including legs was recovered from the stomach of the crocodile.
He said the crocodile was spotted about 1.5km away from the house where the victim was attacked by the 4.29m-long, 800kg male crocodile at about 4am on July 19.
Rangers shot the reptile at about 10am on Sunday (July 23).
On cutting up the stomach of the crocodile, they found the remains of 60-year-old Addi Bangsa.
A Sabah Fire and Rescue Services Department spokesman said family members confirmed it was Addi and his remains have since been sent to the hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Search teams carried out a search operation covering a 3km radius at the mouth of the river some 70km from Tawau.
