Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE, BEH YUEN HUI and R. ARAVINTHAN
A 1.5-METRE female crocodile has been caught after straying into a drainage canal at a housing estate in Kuantan, Pahang.
The three-year-old reptile was trapped using chicken as bait after residents in the nearby Taman Perumahan Inderapura area reported seeing it following a high tide on Aug 4, reported Berita Harian.
Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department director Yusoff Shariff said the crocodile may have come from the nearby Sungai Belat before being carried into the canal by the tide.
He said the reptile may have been hungry, which made the capture operation relatively quick and easy.
“The crocodile will be released into its natural habitat to continue growing.
“Sungai Belat and Sungai Kuantan here are known for crocodiles, but so far there have been no cases of them acting aggressively towards humans,” he told the daily.
A local resident, Mahazir Wan Chik, said crocodiles occasionally strayed into the canal after floods or high tides.
> A former Royal Malaysian Navy engineer traded ship engines for sugarcane farming after leaving the service to care for his late father in Negri Sembilan.
Muhamad Nuraliff Ramani, 39, served for 10 years before resigning as a lieutenant in January 2023 when his father was battling cancer, Kosmo! reported.
Although his father died in October 2023, Muhamad Nuraliff’s 0.8ha farm in Kampung Peladang, Bahau, continues to produce sugarcane and frozen sugarcane juice.
“Although it was only for a short time, I am grateful that I was able to care for my late father and I do not regret giving up my position.
“If I followed my heart, I would have continued serving, but my fortune is now in agriculture,” he told the daily.
Nuraliff, who holds a degree in naval architecture and shipbuilding, said he taught himself farming through YouTube and Facebook, as well as courses conducted by the Agriculture Department.
He added that his products include asam boi, calamansi and lemon sugarcane juice, which have received good reviews from customers.
“Being an entrepreneur has given me more quality time with my family, so I no longer aspire to return to the shipping industry,” he added.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
