KUCHING: Residents in Sarawak are being urged to exercise extreme caution near rivers following a deadly crocodile attack in Limbang amid warnings that the state’s waterways are heavily populated with the reptiles.
The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) said the state is home to some 4,500 rivers and 40 water catchment basins—many of which are known crocodile habitats.
“A rough estimate is there could be up to 25,000 crocodiles populating these 4,500 rivers,” the agency said in a statement.
“People must be cautious when undertaking river activities. We are trying to mitigate human-wildlife incidents and we need people to play their part,” it added.
The warning comes in the wake of a fatal incident involving a fisherman in Sungai Pandam, a remote river in northern Sarawak.
The victim, 58-year-old Karim Osman, was reported missing on Tuesday after being attacked by a large crocodile while fishing alone in a boat near the riverbank.
His body was found intact the next day by a Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department team, about 100 metres from his home in Kampung Pandam. Authorities had earlier spotted a crocodile surfacing with what appeared to be a human body between its jaws, but it disappeared into deeper waters before they could act.
The Sarawak Wildlife Action Team, an armed unit under the SFC, has since been deployed to track and remove the crocodile.
Search efforts had also involved Marine Police and local villagers, who scoured stretches of the 60km-long river in boats.
