Indonesia: Man-eating crocodiles menace residents

Antara 20 Jan 12;

Pekanbaru (ANTARA News) - Man-eating crocodiles that often attack humans in residential areas have become a threat causing people in Indgragiri Hilir to increase their vigilance.

The chief of Sungai Raya village in Batutuangka sub-district, H Sulaiman, said here on Friday the life threatening crocodiles often appear all of a sudden and can attack people who happen to be at a river side or even near a drainage channel flowing to the Batang River.

The Batang River flows through Indragiri Hilir district.

"Recently, these crocodiles were not only seen in the Batang river but also in small streams connected with the river," Sulaiman said.

A number of resident had seen the crocodiles while they were doing their daily activities at the river`s edge or near the streams.

"The latest crocodile-related incident happened to Muhammad Amin who was attacked by a four-meter-long monster while he was urinating near a stream," Sulaiman said.

The beast already had sank its teeth in Muhammad`s legs but he was somehow able to escape although with injured legs, Sulaiman said.

According to Sulaiman, it was a mystery why the ferocious animals had suddenly appeared in the region and their bodies were larger than usual with some of them having a body length of up to five meters.

Sulaiman said he hoped the government would pay attention to the problem and especially the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) would immediately put an end to the human-versus-crocodile conflict.

"I wish the BKSDA will help us with this situation, because people are threatened by the attacks," Sulaiman said.

According to Batutuangka sub-district chief Sutriadi the area was actually a place where a number of crocodiles had their nest.

"The situation is related to the fact that rivers in Indragiri Hilir, including Sungai Batang, are very rarely explored by humans. Everything in those rivers is still natural, including the mangroves," said Sutriadi.(*)

Editor: Heru