Response team captures two crocs in Samarahan, on lookout for another  

KUCHING (May 20): Two crocodiles were captured in a river near Kampung Tanjung Tuang in Samarahan at around 4pm on Sunday.

Caught by members of the Samarahan Crocodile Hunter, the reptiles were both males, with one measuring 13.6 feet (over four metres) in length while the other, 11 feet (more than three metres).

According to the team’s head of operations Councillor Aziz Mohammad, there were actually three crocodiles spotted in the river.

“The crocodiles were lured using chicken meat as the bait, where our team set up six bait sections immediately after seeing the crocodiles in the river.

“We caught two, while the other one escaped capture. Now, it is our team’s next urgent task to track and catch that crocodile in the Kampung Sungai Mata area,” he said.

On the capture strategy, Aziz said the meat of ‘old chickens’ would be used because it could last longer in water than that of spring chicken or other meats.

According to some villagers, the crocodiles had appeared on land previously.

The Samarahan Crocodile Hunter is a response team managed by the Muara Tuang state constituency’s service centre.

Set up in December 2020, its objective is to assist Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) in handling public complaints over the intrusion of crocodiles into the villages.

“We have members who are very experienced in searching for drowned victims, and other search-and-rescue works,” said Aziz.