KOTA KINABALU: Animal rights lawyers want the killing of crocodiles in Sabah to stop immediately.
This comes after Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga revealed on Thursday that the state has started culling crocodiles in certain areas to reduce the risk of attacks on humans.
Rajesh Nagarajan of Lawyers for Animal Rights said they were shocked to hear that the SWD, together with other state bodies, have gone on a “murderous spree”, resulting in the killing of 32 crocodiles in Sabah.
He said the SWD, which is tasked with the protection of wild animals, is ironically killing wild animals.
“How does this make sense?” he asked in a statement.
“Crocodiles that may endanger human lives should be immediately caught and translocated, as is usually done in most countries around the world.”
Rajesh added that SWD should be progressively catching crocodiles on a regular basis.
“The people of Malaysia will not stand for this. We demand that the killing of crocodiles be halted immediately,” he said.
On Thursday, Tuuga said that they were acting on the directive of the state government, and this was one way to reduce the risk of attacks on humans.
