Survey to determine whether crocodiles can be hunted in Malaysia
Rural villagers can apply to hunt crocodiles posing a danger to them
A survey of the crocodile population in the Malaysian city of Sabah will be carried out before any decision is made about allowing the seasonal hunting of the reptiles to control the increase in its numbers in recent years.
The Wildlife Department would be carrying out the population study, said state tourism, culture and environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
Masidi said rural folk could, however, apply to the department to hunt crocodiles that were posing a danger to them.
Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan had said on Sunday that there was an increase in Sabah’s crocodile population as no hunting permits had been issued for the past 30 years.
He added there had been a drastic increase in the reports of crocodile sightings in river systems, as well as cases of human-crocodile conflicts throughout Sabah in most of the rivers and other waterways.
Dr Sen said the department rangers caught 75 crocodiles between 2010 and last year near populated areas.
The captured reptiles have been relocated to forest reserves and other conservation areas.
He said this after Wildlife Rangers captured a 3.2m long crocodile at the Sungai Togop in Penampang on Sunday.
The reptile was the largest so far that had been caught in district which is near Kota Kinabalu.
