Culling of crocs stepped up though they remain protected

KUCHING: Sarawak is stepping up its crocodile culling and removal operations.

The Sarawak government is committed to address prevailing human- crocodile conflicts through a programme of culling and removal of crocodiles undertaken by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC).

“To date, SFC’s Swift Wildlife Action Team (SWAT) has conducted 73 culling and removal operations all over the state since this special unit was set up in 2013. Last year, a total of 20 operations were carried out and in 2017, two culling operations were conducted up to February,” SFC said in a press statement yesterday.

Crocodile removal efforts will continue and operations by SWAT at the regional level intensified, especially at the following CRZs ( Crocodile Removal Zones) in Kuching Region namely Sungai Santubong, Sungai Bako and Sungai Sarawak whereas in Sibu Region it’s Sungai Krian; Miri Region ( Sungai Limbang and Sungai Miri) and Bintulu Region (Sungai Kemena).

“We will continue to monitor ‘high risk’ rivers and step up culling operations at river systems concerned such as Sungai Samarahan and Sungai Skrang in Kuching Region; Batang Oya and Batang Sebelak in Sibu Region; Sungai Tinjar and Sungai Suai in Miri Region and Sungai Similajau and Sungai Likau in Bintulu Region,” the statement added.

“We have down-listed saltwater crocodiles from Appendix I to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This allows sustainable harvesting of crocodiles from the wild for international trade.

“We conducted dialogue sessions in Kota Samarahan, Kuching, Sri Aman and Serian last week to gather feedback from the community so we could fine tune the State’s Crocodile Management Plan, especially on the issuance of licences to the public for crocodile culling,” the statement said.

Despite the down-listing, crocodiles remain a protected species under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

SFC warned the public to be vigilant when using the river system in view of the ‘landas’ (wet) season, and start of the breeding season for crocodiles.

In a related development, community dialogue sessions on the state’s crocodile management plan were held in Kota Samarahan and Kuching recently.