HUMAN ENCROACHMENT INCREASES CROCODILE ATTACKS
‘God, help me!’
Arjo spoke the first words when the crocodile attacked his right hand.
Arjo, a 33-year-old man, is one of hundreds of victims of deadly attacks by the Saltwater Crocodile, or Crocodylus Porosus, which is known as the world’s largest crocodile species and frequently attacks humans.
Arjo told me about the tragic incident that happened to him on January 5, 2024.
At that time, Arjo, who worked as a fisherman, was heading to the Nyire River, South Bangka, to catch fish. He was with his two children. He had been fishing in the river for a long time.
Without any sign, quietly! No ripples or sound happened; a big crocodile suddenly attacked him on his right hand. Surprised by what was happening to him, Arjo, who was holding a machete at the time, tried to fight back. The strong crocodile bite makes Arjo powerless to hit the crocodile with the machete. The machete fell out of Arjo’s hand.
Time is spinning so fast. Second after second, it becomes a battle of life and death. Both of his children were helpless and cried hysterically.
After struggling with the crocodile, Arjo finally escaped the crocodile’s bite. Arjo bit back at the crocodile with all the strength he had. The crocodile left. Sadly, the crocodile left with a piece of his right hand.
With fresh blood flowing all over his body, Arjo and his children shouted for help, but no one answered.
Injured without his right hand and with blood flowing, Arjo and his two children walked three kilometers to find rescue.
Arjo was then taken by his family to the hospital for surgery and medical care.
Until this day, Arjo has been traumatized by the sight of the Nyire River in South Bangka.
‘Until now, I didn’t even dare look at or step on the river,’ he said.
DISTURBED HABITAT
The increasingly massive human-crocodile conflict in Bangka Belitung is triggered by illegal tin mining activities.
The Bangka Belitung Islands Provincial Office of Environment and Forestry reported environmental damage to mangrove forests and rivers spanning 197,065 hectares in the Bangka Belitung Islands as a trigger for conflicts between crocodiles and humans.
The environmental damage to mangrove forests and rivers is spread across Bangka, Central Bangka, West Bangka, South Bangka, Belitung, East Belitung, and Pangkalpinang regencies.
The Alobi Wildlife Rescue Centre (PPS) said crocodile habitat in Bangka Belitung Islands Province is increasingly threatened as a result of environmental damage in the upstream and downstream rivers and mangrove forests due to illegal tin ore mining.
“Habitat destruction that occurs is not only habitat destruction and river pollution, but also the destruction of ecosystems that affect the natural food of crocodiles in nature. This causes crocodiles to move out of their natural habitat to feed,” said PPS Alobi Manager Endi R. Yusuf.
The process of environmental change plays an important role in evolution and conservation biology. Such is the case with crocodile habitats spread across several regions of Bangka Belitung. Reduced food sources and mangrove deforestation due to illegal mining have caused crocodiles to naturally move to new habitats.
In some cases, saltwater crocodiles have attacked people fishing and tin mining in kolong (a large pit left over from tin mining) and rivers, resulting in death and limb loss.
CrocAttack, or CrocBITE, an online database that records crocodile attacks on humans around the world, ranks Bangka Belitung as the most attacked area by saltwater crocodiles in Indonesia.
Indonesia is the country with the most saltwater crocodile attacks in the world. In the past decade, there have been around 1,000 attacks that have killed more than 450 people. In 2023, according to data from CrocAttack, there were 170 crocodile attacks, 85 of which were fatal.
Brandon Sideleau from CrocAttack said saltwater crocodile attacks on humans in Indonesia are the highest in the world.
HUNTED AND KILLED
Saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptiles alive, and adult males can reach lengths of more than 7 m (23 ft). There are around 200,000 saltwater crocodiles worldwide, and Indonesia is one of their most important habitats.
However, on Bangka Belitung Island, crocodiles are usually hunted and killed after attacking humans. The locals generally do that rather than handing it over to local conservation organizations.
Locals believe that allowing the crocodile to be relocated to another location is a bad omen for the village and prefer to kill the crocodile and bury it, as if not killed, the crocodile will return and have a habit of attacking humans.
The Crocodile Specialist Group, one of the species specialist groups under the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN, said attacks usually occur due to human provocation or other things such as self-defense and territorial efforts.
Saltwater crocodiles are protected animals in Indonesia. According to Law No. 5/1990 on the Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems, anyone is prohibited from committing acts that threaten the existence of protected animals, including injuring and killing. Therefore, the killing of crocodiles by the public is a violation of the law.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, estuarine crocodiles are categorized as least concern.
Data source: CrocAttack, IUCN, Alobi, BBC, Medcom.