Keningau: Villagers at Kg Toboh Baru here are hunting a three-foot long crocodile which was first spotted last year.Ambrose Anthony, 50, said he and several other villagers first saw the creature swimming idly on the tributary to the Pamalan River in September last year.
He was crossing the river on a suspension bridge when he saw what looked like a monitor lizard on the river but was surprised to see that it was actually a baby crocodile about two feet in length," he said.
Another villager, Willie Kodou, 30, said he saw the animal several times early this year. But the last time he saw the crocodile, its length had increased to about three feet.
"It is quite alarming to see that the animal can grow so fast over only five months. We hope that it can be caught and moved to a more suitable location," he said.
He said the villagers are afraid because the tributary estuary is a fish hunting ground and frequented by children who play and swim," he said.
This Daily Express reporter who went there after being informed, said villagers including some 40 Rela personnel, its Keningau chief, Venantius Massinga, JKKK chairman, Connie Anjumin and four personnel from the Wildlife Department took part in the hunt.
Venantius strongly urged the villagers especially children to refrain from conducting any activities near or in the river especially the area where the crocodile was spotted.
"Our advice to the public is to prioritise safety, especially when it involve the lives humans because we cannot predict what wild animal such as a crocodile can do to a person and what more to a child," he said.
The hunt effort went on for a whole day, but the crocodile has so far managed to elude its captors.
