Aussie presenter to help long-suffering croc

Tyre-some ordeal: The crocodile with the tyre stuck around its neck in central Sulawesi. — Reuters

JAKARTA: Australian presenter Matthew Nicolas Wright and fellow crocodile observer Chris Wilson have officially joined the Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA Central Sulawesi) to assist in the rescue of a wild crocodile that has had a motorcycle tyre stuck around its neck for years in the Palu River.

The participation of the two Australians is based on a decree issued by the Environment and Forestry Ministry on Monday to BKSDA Central Sulawesi, into whose operational control the crocodile rescue team has been entrusted.

“After consulting with the ministry’s biodiversity conservation directorate general, both of them were allowed to immediately join the rescue team, ” Haruna, a BKSDA Central Sulawesi official, said on Monday.Wright and Wilson were reportedly still in Jakarta and would immediately head to Palu to join the rescue team. The rescue operation will start when the two arrive.

In his Instagram post on Sunday, however, Wright was seen walking along the river bank upon arriving in Palu on his first day. He said in the post that he would fly to Jakarta on Monday to meet and coordinate with Indonesian officials.

While waiting for Wright, Haruna said the team was preparing all the necessities and the most appropriate strategy to catch the crocodile and release the tyre from its neck.

The 4m-long reptile was first seen swimming with the tyre around its neck in 2016.

It was regularly spotted swimming in the water connecting the Palu River to Palu Bay. Officials and conservationists previously tried but failed to catch it.

Locals believe the crocodile was frightened off because every time there was a rescue attempt, dozens of curious locals swarmed around the river to watch the process.

In 2018, M. Panji or “Panji the Adventurer”, an animal handler and tamer known from his stint on the Adventures of Panji television show, attempted to catch the crocodile but failed.

In January, Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola warned the agency to immediately rescue the crocodile as the motorcycle tyre had been stuck in its neck for too long and might endanger its life.

The agency then held a contest for anyone willing to catch the crocodile, promising a prize as a reward.

But the contest was later cancelled after the agency failed to gain a positive response, so it prepared a special team with the help of the Environment and Forestry Ministry. — The Jakarta Post/ANN