Crocodiles protected under international law, says Premier

KUCHING: The increasing population of crocodiles is inevitable as the animal is protected under United Nations law, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He pointed out that as Sarawak is a signatory to international law and Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC) is a government agency, the state has to comply with the regulations made.

“This animal is a protected animal under the law so we have to comply with it. However, we have requested that the protected status be downgraded so that we can cull the reptile’s population.

“Apart from that period, we cannot harm the animals as they are protected under international law,” he stressed.

He said this during the press conference after the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Supreme Council meeting here Sunday.

However, to address the increasing reptile population, he stated that the Sarawak government planned to build cascading hydro dams to prevent crocodile breeding other than increasing power generation capacity in the state.

“If we use cascading dams, there will be waterfalls and the water will create a turbulence which will prevent the crocodiles from breeding. Crocodiles always breed in calm waters,” he said.

Crocodiles were protected under the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998.

This is because at that time, the crocodile population in Sarawak was not as big, to a point where it became a protected species – years went by, the numbers of the reptile increased and it became an issue.

Therefore, a policy change to down-list and allow the harvesting of saltwater crocodiles in the state was made by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) during a meeting in Johannesburg back in 2016.

Initially, when crocodiles were included in the Appendix I, harvesting of the species was strictly prohibited.

After being down-listed to Appendix II, crocodiles in Sarawak rivers can be harvested and traded with a quota imposed.

Since 2017, the hunting, killing, trading, and exporting of crocodiles are permitted in 10 rivers namely Sungai Sadong, Sungai Tuang, Batang Kerian, Sungai Seblak, Sungai Linga, Sungai Sebuyau, Batang Lupar, Batang Saribas, Batang Baram and Sungai Bekong.