‘Efforts to protect crocodiles should be maintained’

KOTA KINABALU: Although the estuarine crocodile is currently not facing a high risk of extinction, but the effort to protect it needs to be continued, said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew.

She said the crocodile’s role as a top predator of the food chain in rivers and lakes is crucial to keep the balance in the complex web of life in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems.

“When a wetland habitat is healthy, the fishery is considered to be healthy too.

“Crocodiles can also attract tourists, and community-based crocodile tourism has been lucrative in areas such as northern Australia,” she said in her speech during the launch of the book ‘Opogi, A Borneon Crocodile,’ here yesterday.

Liew, who is also Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said the crocodile is not a popular animal due to its reputation as an apex predator.

She said in Sabah, the crocodile was first given legal protection in 1982 and remains protected to this day under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

In 2010, the crocodile population was around 13,000 to 15,000, and the Sabah Wildlife Department and the Danau Girang Field Centre are currently undertaking a statewide survey on the crocodile population in the major rivers in Sabah. — Bernama

Source: Borneo Post Online