Crocodile Terror In The Mentaya-Central Kalimantan River

Illustration of a crocodile in a river (Pixabay / Sasint)

JAKARTA - The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of Central Kalimantan is tracking a large crocodile that had appeared near residents' settlements in Ganepo Village, Seranau District, East Kotawaringin Regency.

The crocodile appeared because of hunger, provoked by the smell of garbage around the Mentaya River to the presence of long-tailed monkeys.

"Based on information from residents, the crocodile with a length of about four meters was spotted Monday, February 8 afternoon. We also traced to the location where the crocodile was spotted by residents", said the Commander of BKSDA Pos Sampit, Muriansyah in Sampit.

When descending to the location, Muriansyah was accompanied by Manggala Agni personnel. They met a resident named Wage who had seen and recorded the crocodile sightings on Monday around 17.00 WIB.

The team, which was accompanied by Wage and three other residents, followed the location where the crocodile appeared when the Mentaya River was tidal.

According to Wage, a crocodile appeared in a banana garden owned by a resident named Sulami, which is located about five meters from the edge of the Mentaya River.

The officers combed around the crocodile's appearance in search of a nest or a place to lay eggs, but the team did not find the crocodile or the nest of the wild animal.

The team then combed the banks of the Mentaya River around the location where the crocodiles appeared, but the crocodiles were also not visible. The sweeping was continued by examining four large ponds around the location, but the crocodiles were also not visible.

According to residents, at that location in the afternoon, you can often see a group of long-tailed monkeys. Meanwhile, along the river, the team found a lot of garbage stranded in the local village waters.

Two factors are thought to be the trigger for the crocodile to approach the location. The crocodile was starving so it looked for food around the settlements by targeting monkeys and garbage dumped by residents into the river.

"Until the activity ended, we did not find the crocodile or the nest. We briefed the residents and asked to immediately report if the crocodile was seen again at that location. If the crocodile appears again at that location, I plan to set a trap to catch the crocodile", he said.

He acknowledged that the crocodile population in the Mentaya River and its tributaries are still quite large. For this reason, people are reminded to always be careful when doing activities in the river, especially when it is dark because it is very prone to attack by crocodiles.