Look beyond culling to reduce human-croc conflict

Of late, there have been a number of crocodile attacks in Sabah, with the latest victim being a seven-year-old boy in Lahad Datu on Dec 8. Luckily, he survived.

Just days prior in the same district, a toddler was snatched by a crocodile. His body was never found.

Danau Girang Field Centre director Prof Benoit Goossens said solutions must be found to human-crocodile conflict.

He said that it was crucial for the crocodile population in Sabah to be monitored and managed properly to ensure that they were not eradicated from several rivers, especially in conflict areas.

Prof Goossens feels that culling is only necessary if there are no alternatives.

“Culling should only be carried out by the Sabah Wildlife Department with proper assessment of the risks to humans,” he said.

He added that killing a crocodile in a conflict area might give residents a false sense of security, as crocodiles were always on the move.

Prof Goossens said when one reptile leaves the nest, another would quickly take its place.

Thus, there is a need to increase awareness in conflict areas including educating residents on using rivers safely.

He cited a recent study which showed that harvesting or culling crocodiles would be detrimental and eventually result in a high extinction probability of the entire metapopulation.

He said simulations based on survey data indicated a potentially sustainable harvest of only five adult crocodiles a year from Sungai Kinabatangan and zero from other rivers.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin had previously suggested that crocodiles be hunted on a scheduled basis with proper measures in place.

He said this following several crocodile attacks including on a woman in August last year at Sungai Kinabatangan.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the suggestion that crocodile hunting be held more frequently could be considered, but only in conflict areas.

He said that a licence to hunt must be obtained from the department.

He added that one could not hunt nor kill these reptiles without a permit as per the Wildlife Conservation Enactment.

On the question of whether an increase in the crocodile population had led to the attacks, Prof Goossens said no.

He said many surveys had been conducted from 2017 to 2020 involving 10 rivers in Sabah.

And the findings showed that the total estimated population size to be only 2,886, with Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary having the largest number at 1,368.

The results suggested there had been no substantial evidence of an increase in overall population size in the past 20 years.

“So crocodile population size is unlikely to be the determining factor in the increased reports of human-crocodile conflict,” said Prof Goossens.

He believes the increase in attacks is largely due to the lack of large prey in the wild such as bearded pigs, which numbers have been affected by a swine flu outbreak last year, as well as habitat loss from expansion of human activities such as settlements and agriculture.