Croc owners told to check in

Hunters play waiting game for rogue reptile

PHUKET: Owners of crocodiles, both commercially farmed and raised as pets, must notify provincial officials about their reptiles immediately for checks following sightings of a crocodile near the province’s popular beaches over the past several days.

Phuket governor Noraphat Plodthong said owners must notify the authorities or risk breaking the wildlife law, an offence punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a maximum fine of 10,000 baht.

Notification will help the authorities establish whether the crocodile spotted lurking off the beaches was a farmed reptile or a pet on the loose. Paisal Sukpoonnapan, head of fishery management at the Phuket fishery office, said checks found that no crocodile from the five registered farms in Phuket had escaped.

However, there may also be establishments which breed saltwater crocodiles illegally and release the reptiles into the sea to avoid inspections by the authorities, he said.

At this stage, the authorities have no idea where the crocodile sighted near the beaches came from, which has prompted a round-the-clock hunt for it, according to Mr Paisal.

On Monday, the crocodile was believed to be heading in the direction of Freedom, Paradise and Patong beaches after it was spotted briefly yesterday.

It was the second time the reptile had come ashore after it was seen “sunbathing” on Kata Beach on Saturday morning, officials said. The crocodile was first spotted on July 18 near Yanui beach by a fisherman. It was estimated to be between two to three metres in length, although Mr Paisal said that from a picture taken earlier of the reptile floating in the sea, he thought the crocodile may be not more than 1.5 metres long.

Small crocodiles tend to be less aggressive than large ones, Mr Paisal said.

Mr Norapat, meanwhile, said the provincial office has issued a swimming ban along beaches in Phuket and deployed surveillance teams to boost safety for tourists and local residents at beaches where the crocodile has been sighted, including Traitrang, Paradise and Patong beaches.

Also yesterday, Nikhom Suksawat, head of the Kraithong crocodile hunting squad from Surat Thani, and state officials were continuing their search for the reptile. But their efforts were hampered by choppy seas, which prevented them from locating it.

Last Thursday, the hunting team nearly caught the crocodile in a net they set up.

The hunters were just 20 metres away from the crocodile, but when it saw them approach, the creature fled, an official close to the hunting effort said.

Yesterday, Mr Nikhom said the plan now was to wait for the crocodile to surface and lumber ashore. The hunters would then get close and capture it with their bare hands.

But if the team members cannot capture the reptile this way, they will go back to using a net to catch it, he said.

The team has been reinforced by personnel from the fishery crime suppression unit in neighbouring Phangnga.

The focus of their search yesterday was along Traitrang beach. However, there was no sign of the crocodile there.