BRUNEI TIMES (Brunei Darussalam) 30 October 06 Crocodile conservation in Sarawak rivers
At the height of the frenzy over the fatal attack on a 12-year-old boy by a crocodile in the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak last month, conservationist Oswald Braken Tisen's mobile phone was deluged with messages branding him as the `Crocodile Hunter'.
But Oswald, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) senior manager for Biodiversity and Conservation, would simply correct the misnomer by replying that he was a `Crocodile Protector'.
He admitted that following the marked increase in crocodile attacks in some of Sarawak's more notoriously infested rivers, there seemed to be an increasing number of criticisms from the public on how crocodile conservation is being handled statewide.
While some suggested that the rivers should be free from crocodiles, others proposed that this reptile be taken off the protected species list in the state.
The only two species found in Sarawak out of the 22 worldwide Crocodylus porosus, the estuarine crocodile which is commonly known locally as buaya katak and Tomistoma schlegelii are protected under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998.
Through public views voiced in the media, some people even suggested that the relevant government agencies such as SFC pay compensation to the victims or family members of the victims.
Citing the incident involving the death of Mohamed Azuan Hatta Abidin, who was seized by a crocodile while searching for crabs in Sungai Sarawak near his house in Kampung Bako on September 3, Oswald said any crocodile killed remained the property of the state and should be rightfully returned to the Forestry Department.
Azuan's death drove his father, Hatta Abidin, 36, into a frenzy and he slashed open the abdomens of three captured crocodiles in a vain bid to find the remains of his son.
Oswald said a person in imminent danger of severe bodily injury, or in self-defence, could kill, capture or injure any protected animal but information must be provided to the nearest wildlife officer as soon as possible as stipulated under sections 41 and 42 of the ordinance.
Prior to the recent crocodile attack, a 27-year-old man, Kadir Lamit, was also killed in Sungai Bako, a tributary of Sungai Sarawak, in 2002 but his body was found two days later.
Several crocodiles were later culled along that stretch of river with permits from the department while some of the carcasses of the captured ones were brought to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre here for skin preservation.
However, concern over the endangered crocodile population in Sarawak's rivers are unfounded, said Engkamat Lading, deputy manager of the SFC Protected Areas and Biodiversity Conservation (PABC) Unit.
He said, for example, that taboos against killing, or even `harassing' the species were still seriously adhered to by some indigenous people in the state, particularly the Ibans and Malays. With the continuous enforcement of the Wildlife Protection Ordinance and the ban on sale of wildlife, it was unlikely that the species was under threat at all, he told reporters.
He said the current status was in contrast to the aggressive hunting for skins during the late 1950s through the early 1970s, which resulted in significant depletion of the crocodile population throughout the state.
In the past, bounties were also paid by the colonial government for crocodiles skulls and eggs but this had little impact on the wild population, he said.
Other factors related to the recovery from intense exploitation during the mid-20th century were the abrupt decline in timber production and associated drop in river traffic in Sarawak since the early 1990s.
Engkamat said ecological stablisation of oil palm estates following initial ecological degradation that occurred during land clearing when vast tracts of forests were felled and burnt was another possible factor.
So far, 55 attacks have been officially reported to the department in the last 25 years, with most involving people taking a dip and swimming in rivers or casting fishing nets and wading in wai (article ends)
Crocodile conservation in Sarawak rivers