By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Sept 24: The public is cautioned against teasing and feeding crocodiles should they encounter the reptiles in the wild after a video emerged recently of man doing exactly that.
Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) chief executive officer and the Controller of Wild Life Zolkipli Mohamad Aton expressed concern over a 1 minute 34 second long video of a man teasing and feeding a crocodile at Kuala Similajau.
At the onset of the video clip, a man’s voice can be heard, describing the location of the video as being in Kuala Similajau.
The video shows a crocodile appearing from the river and a man on the beach is seen waiting for the reptile to approach to eat the fish which he places on the beach.
The man on the beach is seen to be relatively at ease and allows the crocodile to approach him.
The crocodile then takes the fish in its jaws and retreats back into the river.
After the first attempt of feeding it, the man moves towards a fishing boat and receives some fish from one of the three fishermen on it.
The man then proceeds to feed the crocodile a second time.
While he moves closer to the water, the crocodile suddenly appears, lunging towards the man.
From the video, it is unclear whether it is charging at the man or aiming at the fish, but its actions gives the man pause, and he beats a fast retreat by jumping backward as the fishermen can be heard laughing in the background.
The crocodile then turns and disappears beneath the surface of the river.
Surprisingly, the man comes back into frame in a third attempt to feed the crocodile, making noises to lure the reptile while holding fish in both hands.
After the crocodile emerges, the man then leaves the fish on the shore whereby the crocodile devour the fish once more.
After this, the reptilian does not retreat back into the water like the first two feedings.
Instead, it turns and focuses its gaze on the man and begins to move towards him.
He then quickly walks away towards the fishing boat, away from the shore.
At this point in time, someone says “Enough!” in the background and a short conversation in local Malay whether there are many crocodiles in the area ensues.
“This is a wild animal and it is dangerous. It can strike any time. Please do not feed them,” said Zolkipli when asked to comment on the video.
He said SFC will be erecting a “Beware of Crocodile” signboard at the location where the incident took place. — DayakDaily
