Published on: Friday, January 09, 2004 |
Lahad Datu: Crocodile attacks claimed 15 lives, including three school children, at rivers in the district and nearby Kunak over the past 11 years.
District Wildlife Department officer-in-charge, Stephen Gibin Sira, said since 1992 until last year, the reptiles also inflicted severe injuries to 11 people.
Speaking to the Daily Express here, he said the peoples dependence on the river for water supply was to blame for the high rate of attacks.
He believed such attacks could be reduced if treated water could be supplied to all the people in the district.
Due to inadequate water supply such as in the Silabukan area, the villagers have no choice but to brave going to the river to take their bath, do their washing or get their water supply.
This is despite the numerous warnings put up by our department against venturing near the river due to the rampant crocodile attacks reported there, he said.
Such attacks often occurred early in the morning or late in the afternoon while the victims were washing, bathing, swimming, fishing or simply crossing the river.
In most of these cases, the bodies were never recovered.
According to him, Silabukan River saw the highest number of attacks with seven people reported killed and another seven seriously injured by crocodiles.
Among them were two school children, aged seven and 12, who were attacked on Jan 29, 1998, shortly after they went into the water for a dip.
Police, Wildlife Department personnel and villagers found one of them late in the evening with his right arm fractured and severe bite wounds on his right leg. The other child was never found.
Despite this incident, about a year later, another student was attacked in Silabukan River and his body was never recovered.
Silabukan River encompasses the Borneo Samudera plantation and this explains crocodile attacks on eight labourers and a villager, four of whom were killed.
Apart from Silabukan River, crocodiles have also been sighted in the rivers of Segama, Lungmanis and Tingkayu in Kunak as well as at a large man-made pond at the Felda area in Tungku.
The man-made pond in Tungku Felda Sahabat 46, also known as Kolam B, has so far seen four people being killed and another injured, most of whom were workers fishing, bathing and drawing water to mix with pesticides.
The last incident took place on Nov 5, 2002 when Jabal Mirda, in his 30s, was reportedly dragged into the pond by a huge crocodile while he was sharpening a crescent knife to harvest oil palm fruit bunches.
According to Felda officials and workers, seven crocodiles have been sighted in the pond with one of them measuring more than 20 feet long.
In another pond at Sahabat 35, 38-year-old Ainul Yacob was dragged into the water as his hapless colleagues stood by on April 4, 2003.
The bodies of Jabal and Ainul were never recovered.
Initial investigation by the Wildlife Department revealed that crocodiles had migrated to the ponds in Felda territory due to pollution in their natural habitat while the clearing of forest had reduced their food source, said Stephen.
Recently, crocodiles were also sighted at Tabanak River, Crocodile River adjacent to Taman Sinar Baru, Sabah Baru River in Tengah Nipah and Rimmer River near Silabukan.
