ONE of Sarawak’s leading experts on crocodiles has lauded the proposal to set up sanctuaries in the state’s crocodile infested rivers as a solution to manage the growing number of human-crocodile conflicts in the state.

Oswald Braken Tisen said the proposal, first disclosed by Natural Resources Deputy Minister Len Talif Salleh last week has merits, as crocodile populations could be managed sustainably in these sanctuaries.               .

The former Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) officer said the whole of the Samunsam River in the Samunsam wildlife sanctuary in Lundu, part of the Bako River in Kuching, a section of Batang Lupar in Sri Aman and Sungai Likau in Bintulu have the potential to be crocodile sanctuaries.

Once on the brink of extinction due to over exploitation, Sarawak’s salt water crocodiles (Crocodylus Porosus) have successfully recovered due to legal protections placed on the species.

These reptiles were, before 2016, on schedule 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) threatened with extinction affected by trade.

They have now been moved to schedule 2 which means that although the species is not currently threatened with extinction, trade in the reptiles are subject to strict regulation in order to avoid utilisation incompatible with their survival.

However, their growing numbers are now a cause for concern. A study conducted by four researchers from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, the state’s keepers of wildlife and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unmas) published in January 2022, stated there were 164 reported cases of crocodile attacks on humans in the state from 2000 to 2020.

Oswald is one of the researchers. The attacks work out to an average of 7.8 a year. The study also found 52.4% of the attacks resulted in fatalities.

Oswald told The Malaysian Insight that the proposal could confine the reptiles to a designated section of the river or the entire river. No human activities would be allowed in these sanctuaries.

He said crocodiles that stray out of the sanctuaries could be “removed”, in reference to the SFC’s current concept of crocodile removal zones where crocodiles found in these zones are trapped and sent to existing wildlife sanctuaries or culled by licensed hunters.

“I am certain that crocodiles can be managed as sustainable resources for the benefit of both the local communities and businesses as revenue for the state.”

The idea for the sanctuary was mooted after Len Talif said the current culling campaign had not achieved the desired result and the crocodile population is still large.

He said apart from culling, controlling the reptile’s birth rate is another possibility.

One of the ways, he said, is to harvest eggs from nests.

However, Oswald admitted that collecting the eggs is difficult.

“It’s difficult to locate the nests in our type of vegetation.”

Alternatively, he said, the SFC could issue permits to locals living around crocodiles to harvest hatchlings for trade or ranching.

Collecting hatchlings as a means to control the crocodile population does not require technical support and this would bring socio-economic benefits to the locals, Oswald said. – April 8, 2023.