Crocodile attack on dog gets folk edgy

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One of the crocodiles spotted basking in the sun harmlessly on the riverbank of Sungai Ngemah.

The reptile can hardly be seen when in the bush.

A group of officers from Kanowit District Education Office who spotted a reptile sunbathing at Lubok Melapi. (Wording on this photo was written by the education officer on his Facebook.)

KANOWIT: Residents of Lubok Melapi were awe-stricken when crocodiles returned to their Ngemah River a few years ago but then a recent attack on a dog has stirred terror in the peaceful co-existence.

It has stirred more than a tinge of terror in this ecological contract, much as a primary school security guard Labang Kana, in his late 50s, recalls of a close encounter he once had with the reptile.

“Eight of us were on the longboat passing through Lubok Melapi to take my relatives for a ‘ngetas ulit’ (Iban ceremony to mark end of mourning for the dead) at our longhouse in Nanga Nirok.

“I was the one navigating the longboat when we hit the reptile that I initially thought was a dead tree branch floating in the water.

“The river passage was quite narrow so I could not avoid it. It felt like hitting a log in the water. Luckily, it did not fight back and we continued our journey,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.

Labang said there were two crocodiles in the area of which one was darker and another yellowish.

The darker reptile which was the smaller of the two, was more aggressive, he said.

“It attacked the dog of Rumah Baginda residents in Nanga Selaut. It happened in broad daylight.

“The residents saw the reptile dragging the dog from the longhouse jetty before it disappeared into the water with the pet,” he said.

Another longhouse resident Jamit Bajai, who is in his 50s from Nanga Bat, said they often saw the reptile basking in the sun at Lubok Melapi between 8am and 9am.

He said as a regular user of the river, he was not sure of the number but he had personally seen one about “three fathoms” (one fathom is 6 feet in reference to depth of water), which hence would stretch to 18 feet in length and another smaller one.

“They did not seem to be bothered by longboats passing by the area.

“But fear has gripped us ever since we noticed their presence there about two to three years ago,” he said.

They believed the crocodiles had migrated from other parts of Sungai Rajang.

“I’ve never heard of crocodiles in Sungai Ngemah before until I saw them with my own eyes,” he said.

Georgiana Lenggu, 46, from Nanga Nirok, said frequent sightings of the reptile at Lubok Melapi were nothing new to them now.

“When we first saw it, we were frightened. We are still frightened by its presence but we have no other choice.

“River is the only means of transport for us living in the upriver area where there is still no road,” she said.

On a note of sensibility, Tuai Rumah Sebastian Ko from Nanga Ngungun pointed out that the crocodiles were attracted to domestic waste thrown into the river.

“They feed on the garbage. It has been 20 to 30 years since we last saw the reptiles in the river. It is likely that they are attracted to the foul smell from our waste,” he cautioned.

Meanwhile, a group of officers from Kanowit District Education Office who visited schools affected by floods in Sungai Ngemah in January this year, managed to capture the reptile in photographs.

According to Sarawak Forestry Corporation, relocation of a crocodile is only necessary if a reptile has attacked humans. Crocodiles normally have a territorial range of 100km so relocating them to rivers with no people around is not a solution.

Otherwise, it’s a case of peaceful co-existence in Ngemah River until a crocodile turns man-eater.

In which case, it has to be put in an enclosure or killed with the permission of the ‘Controller’ as required under (Section 29 of) the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, under which crocodiles are listed as protected animals.

The Forestry Department also recently, in April, identified seven ‘crocodile-free zones’ in the state, to deter attacks on humans.