The Appearance Of The Muara Crocodile Secured In The Mentawa River

Crocodile Arrest (Between)

JAKARTA - An estuarine crocodile roaming the Mentawa River, Mentawa Baru Ketapang District was finally secured by the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Sampit Resort, East Kotawaringin Regency (Kotim), Central Kalimantan.

The rescue was carried out because there were residents who deliberately fed the crocodile and it was feared that it would actually change the behavior of the animal.

"Previously the crocodile was fed by residents and we were worried that the crocodile would feel at home here and we were afraid the crocodile would attack residents," said the BKSDA Resort Commander Sampit Muriansyah in Sampit, Friday night, January 24.

Wednesday, January 22, BKSDA received a report accompanied by video of residents. Thursday, January 23, BKSDA Resort Sampit observed the location, as well as preparing a rescue plan.

"The day before we had made observations based on reports from residents regarding the appearance of crocodiles and today we managed to rescue the crocodile," he said.

Quoted from ANTARA, if crocodiles are used to being fed, their natural behavior as predators will change. Crocodiles will feel at home in residential waters because they feel they can get food easily. Crocodiles will also get used to approaching humans.

When there are humans, crocodiles will not move away, they will approach, because they are used to getting food from humans. However, there is no guarantee that the wild animal will not attack humans.

Meanwhile, in the rescue effort, at around 22:45 WIB the estuarine crocodile with a length of 1.5 meters was caught and secured. The crocodile was immediately tied and his eyes were covered with a wet cloth, then taken to the tub of the BKSDA Resort Sampit car.

After this activity, his party will immediately report to the SKW II BKSDA Pangkalan Bun. The local leader will determine if the crocodile is brought to Pangkalan Bun or released back into the Kotim area.