On the lookout: A fireman scanning the river after a crocodile attack at Kampung Mas Mas in Tawau.
KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife rangers in the state have killed five crocodiles in an effort to keep people safe following a spate of recent attacks.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said that the rangers were focused on larger crocodiles in specific areas within the Kota Belud, Lahad Datu and Tawau districts.
“We shot four crocodiles in Kota Belud and one in Lahad Datu,” he said, adding that so far, they have not shot or caught any crocodiles in the Tawau area.
However, he said the crocodiles killed were not suspected of being behind the attacks but posed a threat to the people in the area.
Victims of three recent crocodile attacks in Sabah have yet to be found.
In the first case, on Sept 22 in the northern Kota Belud district, 20-year-old Yusri Dulpi was attacked by a crocodile while fishing at a jetty in Mantanani.
The search for Yusri was called off after 10 days, and he is still missing.
In the second case in Lahad Datu on Oct 15, 50-year-old Salim Sakka went missing after a suspected crocodile attack while mending his fishing net by the river in Kampung Sungai Silabukan.
In the third incident in Tawau on Oct 19, a man identified only as Asdar went missing after he was believed to have been snatched by a crocodile while fishing at a river in Kampung Mas Mas, Tawau district.
Civil Defence personnel had captured a two-metre-long crocodile weighing 80kg in a drain at Taman Megah Lorong Jaya 3, Sandakan district, on Oct 20.
Amid the growing number of crocodile-human conflicts over recent years, Sabah’s wildlife rangers have been walking a tightrope between crocodile conservation and ensuring the safety of riverside communities on the east coast of Sabah.
The shooting of crocodiles is only carried out in areas where they pose danger to the villagers, according to the department.
The state Wildlife Department has also carried out awareness campaigns with riverine communities on the “dos and don’ts”.
These include talks and distributing pamphlets on precautions to be taken.
Experts have said that the increased attacks on humans were more likely due to the loss of natural habitat as well as dwindling food sources, especially large prey like bearded pigs that were affected by the African Swine Fever outbreak.
