Cover all rivers in identification exercise of crocs, Adenan urges

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Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan

Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan

MIRI: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem wants the wildlife authorities to extend the identification exercise to all rivers in the State instead of restricting it to only 10 earmarked for hunting and culling crocodiles.

He was commenting on the down-listing of estuarine crocodiles from Appendix I to Appendix II in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) listing schedule recently.

“Do not be confined to just the 10 rivers as crocodiles may escape to other rivers,” he said when launching the RM8-million Petronas-Sarawak Forestry Eco-Marine Conservation project at  Miri-Sibuti Coral Reefs National Park in northern Sarawak here yesterday.

“They are too much of a nuisance and human lives have been lost,” he added.

The chief minister said the down-listing means that the State can export crocodile skin and related products to markets in China and other countries.

Early this month, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced that CITES had agreed to Malaysia’s proposal to downgrade the conservation status of crocodiles in the State because of the marked increase in crocodile population which resulted in rising human-crocodile conflicts.

The down-listing takes effect from this month.

Previously, estuarine crocodiles were protected under the local wildlife law and also internationally under Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) Appendix I, which states that no export of estuarine crocodile is allowed from Malaysia.

Following an increase in crocodile attacks in the State,  Malaysia, with representatives from Sarawak, proposed last year to CITES Secretariat during the Animal Committee Meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel to down-list estuarine crocodiles (confined to Sarawak only) to CITES Appendix II, which allows regulated harvests and export of crocodiles taken from the wild.

The CITES Conference of Parties (COP), held in South Africa last month, approved the application.

However, it received mixed reaction from local indigenous communities who are wary of hunting or eating crocodile meat due to their deep-rooted belief of respect and mutual co-existence for the crocodiles since the time of their forefathers.

With such taboo, the state government’s effort to reduce the number of the man-eaters in the wild and earn revenue from crocodiles is likely to be export-oriented.

Only those with licence (priority will be given to individuals from local communities) can conduct the culling, and export quotas will be imposed on crocodile skin and meat to ensure controlled culling and to prevent rampant killing.

The crocodile population has been increasing in Sarawak, especially in Samarahan River which increased by 108.5 per cent from 1985 to 2014, Sarawak Mangrove Wetland in the Pulau Salak area (increased by 34.5 per cent), Limbang (28.5) and Batang Lupar (28.4). Other rivers which registered increase in crocodile population are Suai River (22.4), Rajang River (21.5) and Baram (14.7).

Currently, the population of crocodiles in the wild in Sarawak is estimated to be at least 13,500 and the most infested river has a ratio of 2.18 crocodiles per every two km.