Animal rights group wants Sabah to put a stop to crocodile cull

KOTA KINABALU: Animal rights lawyers want the killing of crocodiles in Sabah to be stopped immediately.

This comes after Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga revealed on Thursday (Feb 1) that the state has started culling crocodiles in hotspot areas to reduce the risk of attacks on humans.

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Rajesh Nagarajan of Lawyers for Animal Rights said they were shocked to hear that the SWD together with other state bodies had gone on a ‘spree’ resulting in the death of 32 crocodiles in Sabah.

He said the Sabah Wildlife Department which is tasked with the protection of wild animals is instead killing wild animals.

“How does this make sense?,” he asked in a statement.

“Any crocodiles that may endanger human lives should be immediately caught and translocated as what is usually done in most countries around the world,” said Rajesh.

He asked why instead of progressively catching crocodiles on a regular basis, the SWD decided to go on an occasional cull?

“We demand that the killing of crocodiles be halted immediately,” he said.

He asked for the SWD to carry out the task entrusted to them in protecting wildlife and not take the easy way out of killing these animals.

On Thursday, Tuuga has said that they were acting on the directive of the state government and this was one way to reduce risk of attacks.