Thought To Be Able To Embarrify Crocodiles, In Fact, The Cimory Land Handler Almost Died

A wild crocodile caught in a motorcycle tire when it appeared on the surface of a river in Palu, Central Sulawesi. (ANTARA)

MAKASSAR - An elderly man named Baso Daeng Rani who claimed to be the handler was attacked by a crocodile and suffered a broken bone in the arm while trying to tame the animal at the Cimory Land tourist site, Parangloe District, Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi, on Monday night.

"The victim was brought by the community from Makassar. He (the handler) has been prepared. Before going down, we had banned him, but he insisted and claimed to be able to speak and rule the crocodile," said Parangloe Police Chief AKP Muh Ansar, quoted by ANTARA Wednesday, February 19.

Luckily, the victim was immediately pulled over the pool by residents shortly after the incident, even though his life was almost lost. After the incident, the victim was taken to Yapika Gowa Hospital for medical treatment before finally returning to his home in Antang, Makassar.

Previously, the crocodile was found in a residential area after a flood hit Perumnas Antang, Manggala District, a few days ago. Because crocodile breeding is still flooded, the animal is temporarily deposited in Cimory Land.

General Affair Legal Officer of Cimory Land Takalar, Firman Asyari, confirmed that the crocodile came from Antang and was handed over to Cimory by the rescue team. The animal is a deposit from the South Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) because there is no suitable place to accommodate it temporarily.

The crocodile appeared on Thursday, February 13, and the day after, several people came claiming to be the crocodile's family. In fact, some claim to be possessed and know of its presence in Cimory Land through social media.

On Friday, February 14, they came in droves asking for the crocodiles to be returned to them. Cimory Land stated that they did not mind, but procedures must be followed.

However, the group urged the crocodiles to be brought home immediately. After being given the understanding, they had time to leave, but came back the next day with the same intention.

"Initially we tried to arrest them, but because there were hundreds of people, the police were also overwhelmed. The police chief finally let them in even though there had been mediation efforts," explained Firman.

After entering, they perform a ritual by giving bananas and eggs to crocodiles. They tried to catch them themselves without safety equipment.

"The intention was to take it forcibly. Maybe one of them tried to stroke the crocodile, but suddenly the crocodile reacted and immediately bit the grandfather's hand. It happened so fast," he added.

Due to this incident, Cimory Land is waiting for the BKSDA to immediately evacuate the crocodile to avoid a similar incident. In addition, management suffered losses because many tourist facilities were damaged at the time of the incident.