3-Meter Croc Catches Rays With Shocked Beachgoers

Jakarta Globe, Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, May 22, 2013

An Estuarine Crocodile opens its jaws wide at the National Zoological Gardens
at Dehiwala outside the city limits of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (EPA Photo)

Balikpapan. Authorities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, are investigating whether a large crocodile that spooked visitors at the popular Manggar Beach over the weekend was a wild animal or had escaped from a nearby breeding center.

Arif, the head of the municipal management body for the beach, confirmed on Monday that the three-meter-long saltwater crocodile was spotted in the area on Saturday morning, sending hundreds of beachgoers scattering.

“The crocodile even went up and sunbathed next to the lifeguard post. Most of the visitors were scared, but some of them hung around to look,” he said.

The animal disappeared into a nearby estuary soon after, and efforts by Ari’s office and local wildlife conservation officials to track it down were fruitless.

Arif added that officials from the local search and rescue agency, working with local fishermen, were still scouring the coast for any signs of the animal so that they could determine where it came from before capturing and releasing it away from areas of human activity.

He added that it is highly likely that the crocodile came from the nearby Teritip crocodile breeding center. However, Bayu, an official at the breeding center, denied the possibility.

“None of our crocodiles have gone loose. They’re all securely in their cages,” he said, adding that there were around 1,500 crocodiles at the facility.

He suggested that the one that appeared at the beach was a wild crocodile that had strayed far downstream because of damage to its habitat in the upstream forest area.

Crocodile sighting are increasingly becoming common in East Kalimantan, with conservation officials attributing this to the loss of the animals’ natural habitat.

In April, a 16-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile in the Perdau Dalam River in West Kutai district. This was the fifth incident in the area in the past two years.

Erli Sukrismanto, the head of the Kutai National Park, said at the time that forest clearing within the park was compelling animals to travel further downstream.

“Crocodiles are considered quite adaptable to high levels of water pollution, so if they’re forced to seek cleaner waters, that paints a very worrying picture,” he said.