Kota Kinabalu Civil Defence Force personnel and firemen trying to capture the crocodile in the drain.
KOTA KINABALU: Another 3m long crocodile was caught in the Sabah capital, this time in a public park not far from the city.
This was the second reptile trapped in the space of two days, with the first roped in by islanders at Kampung Lok Baru in Pulau Gaya, a 15-minute boat ride from the city centre on Wednesday (May 22).
The second crocodile was found in a drain at the Likas Bay Public Park off Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens here at about midnight on Friday (May 24).
Passers-by had noticed the animal in the ditch and immediately notified the authorities.
Kota Kinabalu Civil Defence Force officer Capt Aizex Junior Simon said they deployed a team to the location following a call at 12.10am.
“On reaching the place, our men got to work straight away with a team from the Fire and Rescue Department to capture the crocodile,” he said, when contacted on Saturday (May 25).
“After about half an hour, we managed to retrieve the 3m long and 180kg reptile before we brought it to the APM office here,” he added.
He said they have informed the Sabah Wildlife Department over the crocodile’s capture.
Aizex said the operation ended at 1.09am, adding it went smoothly with no untoward incident.
On Wednesday, islanders caught the 200kg crocodile after it tried to attack a child in Pulau Gaya.
The reptile, believed to have been lurking in the waters off the city for months, was trapped by villagers at about 4pm.
There have been videos of crocodile sightings in the sea at Likas Bay that have gone viral previously.
In one of the videos, which made the rounds in January, a crocodile could be faintly seen floating in the water not far from the Menara Kinabalu building which houses the Chief Minister’s office and various other government departments.
