KUCHING: The Sarawak Government is committed to reduce the risk of crocodile attacks in the region with an estimated population of 25,000 crocodiles across 22 river basins.

According to Sarawak Deputy Premier, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, various initiatives have been implemented and are ongoing.

Among others, he said the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) had carried out 40 monitoring operations between January and October this year which led to the relocation of 35 crocodiles away from residential zones.

“To date, 55 hunting licences have been issued, and 234 warning signs were set up in high-risk areas across Sarawak.

“At the same time, 13 awareness programmes focusing on the 3M approach (Identifying, Understanding & Conserving) for crocodiles have been conducted,” he said during his ministerial winding-up session at the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

The Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development added, the Sarawak Government through SFC is developing a more comprehensive crocodile management plan with the involvement of international experts.

According to him, a strategic collaboration has been formalised through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between SFC and Wildlife Management International Pty Ltd (WMI) in Darwin, Australia.

In this regard, WMI will assist in drafting the crocodile management plan and provide training for SFC officers to enhance crocodile management in Sarawak.

“The preparation of the plan will take one year, with an initial report to be submitted in December 2024 to outline the necessary steps to be taken,” he said.

Additionally, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah noted that the Crocodile Rules have been drafted and is currently in the final review stage before being submitted to the Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri for approval.

Meanwhile, he said the Sarawak CrocWatch application has also been launched in September 2024 as a platform for the public to report crocodile sightings. -UKASnews