Malaysia's Sarawak grapples with rising crocodile encounters
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A crocodile after it was taken down during a hunting operation by crocodile hunters at Kemena River in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia, July 17, 2026. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain
By Huey Mun Leong
SARAWAK, Malaysia, August 3 (Reuters) - Villagers in one indigenous community in Malaysia's Sarawak state once lived by an unspoken rule: leave the crocodile be, and it will leave you alone in turn.
But for the community's headman, Daniel Muking, that taboo has now been broken, after his son was found dead following a crocodile attack in May 2024.
"It has eaten my child, so I have every right to kill it," he said.
Sarawak on Borneo island has seen a rise in crocodile encounters in recent years as the number of reptiles in the state's rivers rebounded. The crocodile population reached more than 25,000 in 2024 after being nearly wiped out due to overexploitation in the 1980s, according to a survey.
Crocodile attacks have caused 22 deaths between 2023 and 2025, with five fatalities so far this year.
Sarawak Deputy Natural Resources Minister Len Talif Salleh said authorities must balance wildlife conservation with the safety of riverside communities.
The Sarawak state government has begun issuing hunting licences and launched a new mobile phone application for the public to report sightings, as part of its efforts to manage the crocodile population.
Though crocodile encounters have become more frequent, attacks have declined compared to 20 years ago, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation said.
"Crocodiles may be appearing more frequently near (human) settlements because they can find food more easily there,” the corporation's general manager, Abang Arabi Abang Aimran, said.
Authorities have collaborated with licensed hunters and local communities to relocate crocodiles away from rivers near human settlements.
For families such as Daniel's, the move has given them long-awaited closure after the crocodile that villagers identified as killing his son was eventually hunted down.
"I also want to eat its flesh if I can," Daniel said.
(Reporting by Mandy Leong Huey Mun and Hasnoor Hussain; Writing by Danial Azhar; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
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