Some Areas In Bintan Regency Prone To Crocodile Attacks

UPTD Damkar Bintan Timur officers prepare fishing rods with chicken/fish bait to catch crocodiles in the local area. (ANTARA/HO-UPTD East Bintan Damkar)

KEPRI - The Bintan Regency Fire Department, Riau Islands (Kepri), said a number of sub-districts in the area were prone to estuarine crocodile attacks, such as in East Bintan and Toapaya sub-districts.

Head of the Technical Service Unit of the Bintan Fire Department (UPTD Damkar) Timur Nurwendi said that in his area there are a number of spots where crocodiles are commonly found, including Wacopek, Sei Lekop Village, Kijang Kota, and Pertamina Kijang gas station.

"All of these locations are swamps, so they are one of the habitats for crocodiles," said Nurwendi in Bintan, as reported by Antara, Wednesday, May 11.

Nurwendi said that in recent weeks three crocodiles had appeared in the East Bintan area. When the weather is summer, crocodiles often rise to the surface of the swamp to the banks of the river to sunbathe.

The existence of the large reptile is troubling local residents because the location of its appearance is not far from residential areas.

Therefore, his party has increased routine surveillance of these crocodile-prone locations so that they do not prey on residents' livestock, let alone humans.

In fact, efforts to catch crocodiles by using fishing rods for chicken/fish meat are continuously being carried out, in order to lure animals that live in the water environment out to the surface.

"We kept trying but we didn't succeed, because these crocodiles move very fast, if they meet humans, they will immediately run," he said.

Similarly, Head of UPTD Damkar Toapaya Makmur said that in his area there are also several crocodile-prone points, including the West Cross River at Kilometer 16, Tiram River, Kapur River, Tembeling River, and Kawal River.

According to Makmur, the presence of these crocodiles is very worrying for local residents, especially after the incident where a junior high school boy was killed by a crocodile in the West Cross River at the end of the month of Ramadan 1443 Hijriah.

However, there is not much effort that can be done by his party to anticipate the appearance of crocodiles in the area, but continues to urge residents to always be vigilant by reducing activities in crocodile-prone rivers, especially at night when the animals usually rise to the surface.

"We also ask the village and neighborhood heads to closely monitor the activities of their citizens in crocodile-prone rivers," said Makmur.

Furthermore, Makmur said that his party together with the East Bintan Damkar UPTD had coordinated with the Bintan Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) regarding efforts to prevent crocodile and human conflicts, so that the incident of crocodiles preying on humans in the West Cross River would not be repeated at a later time.

"We are proposing to install alligator-prone warning boards at a number of points. If there are instructions, they just have to do it right away," he said.

The presence of crocodiles in the Bintan area is suspected to often move from one place to another. Even though the firefighters have detected the crocodile's habitat, it is difficult to catch it due to the lack of human resources and equipment, so that if you continue to force it, it will endanger the lives of the firefighters themselves.