BKSDA Evacuates 17 Crocodiles Again In Cianjur Shelter

CIANJUR - The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) has again evacuated 17 crocodiles in captivity in Gunung Calung Village, Sayang Village, Cianjur District, Cianjur Regency, West Java, to the South Sumatra BKSDA.

Head of KSDA Region I Bogor Diah Qurani Kristina said that his party had not been able to confirm the number of crocodiles in the captivity pool, of which five had fled because the captivity wall had broken.

"We cannot confirm how many crocodiles are in the captivity pool, currently officers assisted by residents and employees are trying to drain the pool water to facilitate the evacuation process," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 16.

However, currently, he said, only 17 were successfully evacuated and immediately transferred to the South Sumatra BKSDA captivity, while the plan was for all crocodiles in captivity to be moved to the same place.

In contrast to the five runaway crocodiles that had previously been evacuated to the Cikananga animal rescue center, Sukabumi Regency, although previously officers assisted by joint officers took a long time because the crocodiles that fled were more than five meters in size.

"Our hope is that today we can find out how many crocodiles are in the pool, and all will be evacuated to South Sumatra in the next few days," he said.

The evacuation process was quite time-consuming because officers had to drain the captivity pool because the crocodile, which was said to be dozens of tail, chose to hide under the surface of the water, making it difficult for officers.

Even the officers were also quite complicated by draining because the water discharge in the pool was quite high, although two water pumps were used from morning to Wednesday evening.

"We are trying in the next two days all crocodiles in the pool can be evacuated while waiting for the pool to recede," he said.