KENDARI - Residents in Ambuau Indah Village, South Lasalimu District, Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, caught a giant crocodile 4.3 long and weighing about 1 ton.
Head of the Regional Conservation Section (SKW) I Baubau BKSDA Sultra Prihanto said his party received reports that the crocodile was caught by local villagers when it was found around a riverbank not far from a residential area.
"It was feared that the crocodile would later endanger the surrounding community, so they took the initiative to catch the crocodile with a makeshift tool with nylon rope. After being caught and tied up, then contacted us for evacuation," he said as quoted by Antara, Saturday, June 25.
A rescue team of six people from the Southeast Sulawesi BKSDA Region I Baubau was then dispatched to carry out the evacuation. The crocodile is thought to have come from a river in a local village because it was found right around the riverbank.
"The crocodile came from the river because it has been raining for the past few days, so the river in the area overflowed. So it is possible that the crocodile came from the river because it was found on the banks of the river," he said.
After his party arrived at the location, the crocodile was evacuated with the assistance of the Koramil, Polsek, village government and local communities. The crocodile was successfully evacuated for two hours from 13.00 WITA to 15.00 WITA because it was quite large.
He said the crocodile was then taken to Baubau and then taken to the Southeast Sulawesi BKSDA in Kendari City to be released into its habitat.
"Where to release it, later we will coordinate with BKSDA friends in Kendari, whether we want to put it in a captivity point or we release it in its natural habitat that is safe and far from community settlements, later the Balai will determine that," he said.
BKSDA appealed to the public to reduce activities during the rainy season, especially in locations where crocodiles are the main habitat at night.
"We have conducted outreach to the community to reduce activities during the rainy season, especially in locations that are crocodile habitats, reduce activities such as fishing, bathing in rivers which are crocodile habitats, especially at night," said Prihanto.
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