KOTA KINABALU: Dozens of crocodile sightings across Sabah are creating alarm among local residents as stretched wildlife rangers seek help from villagers and police in the hunt for the reptiles.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said there were 29 sightings in various areas of the east coast Lahad Datu district, at least six in Kota Kinabalu, three in Sandakan, and at least one in Tawau.
“We have received many reports throughout Sabah,” Tuuga said when contacted yesterday.
“Where we can, we do it (capturing or shooting the reptile) ourselves. We also get the police to assist us.
“There are other cases in remote areas such as Paitan (northeastern Sabah) where we’ve authorised the village security and development committees to hunt the crocodiles,” he said, explaining that their manpower was stretched with the recent sudden surge in crocodile sightings across the state.
Tuuga said police in Lahad Datu informed the department of crocodiles being spotted in many areas including beachfronts and housing areas, with the latest in waters around the marine police base in town.
“Lahad Datu police have written to us and highlighted public concern and fear on sighting of crocodiles in the district,” he said.
He said Lahad Datu police also listed 28 areas with the location coordinates of the sightings within the district and neighbouring areas in Tungku, Desa Kencana and Tambisan.
He said wildlife rangers shot two crocodiles, with the latest on Friday.
“None of the crocodiles were involved in the attack on a man and his one-year-old child (still missing),” he said, referring to the Dec 1 incident where a crocodile snatched the boy. His father tried in vain to stop the attack while they were on a wooden boat near the marine police jetty in Lahad Datu.
Crocodiles were also spotted at popular family outing spots along Likas Bay as well as the flood mitigation pond along the Likas Bay road.
Sightings of crocodiles at the Likas Bay pond were reported several years ago and warning signs have been put up by the Wildlife Department ever since.
However, avid anglers still go into the lagoon to catch fish without any fear.
In previous interviews with The Star, they said they had seen the crocodiles, but the reptiles never disturbed them.
In the latest incident, a seven-year-old boy escaped with multiple bite wounds inflicted by a crocodile in the Lahad Datu district .
On Thursday, the boy had gone down from his water village house at Kampung Air to get his pet chicken at around 5.50pm.
His cousin, who was nearby, saw the reptile lurking in the water close to the boy’s home and screamed to alert him.
Lahad Datu OCPD Asst Comm Rohan Shah Ahmad said the boy tried to run, but the crocodile bit him.
“The boy managed to kick free and escape,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The boy was later taken to the hospital to treat deep lacerations and a fractured bone on his right leg and is now recuperating there.
Silam assemblyman Dumi Pg Masdal recently visited the area where the latest attack took place, and also paid a visit to the victim’s family.
In a Facebook post, he said that this matter needed to be addressed for the safety of the villagers involved.
He said that between 2020 and 2022, there had been a total of 12 crocodile attacks reported in Lahad Datu, out of which eight were fatal.