Killer croc finally captured

CAPTURED AT LAST: Indet (squatting third right), Embol (second right) and others with the catch.

The public rush to the parking space at Roban to see the crocodile which Indet believes to be the infamous Bujang Seblak.

Embol (right, facing camera) and several villagers carry the crocodile to Roban town

SARATOK: A male crocodile which was believed to have devoured Siah Monsung – wife of Tuai Rumah Embol Asom from Sungai Anak, Pelunga Roban – two weeks ago was caught yesterday.
The 12-foot reptile was trapped by crocodile catcher Indet Sanabong and his assistant with the aid of two villagers around 8am.
Hundreds of people thronged Roban town when news that the crocodile which they believed to be the infamous ‘Bujang Seblak’ was brought to the town broke out.

When met Indet claimed that apart from the killer croc he had also caught another two which he believed to be Bujang Seblak’s ‘buddies’ the last few weeks.
He called them ‘Bujang Muara’ (which was 9.2 feet long) and ‘Dara Nanga’ (female, 8.9 feet long).
He said he did not doubt that the crocodile was Bujang Seblak as it bore the marks of a shotgun wound underneath its chin.
Around 4pm, the crocodile was sent to Rumah Panjang Embol at Sungai Anak by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) for post mortem and data gathering.

Body of missing boy found but goes missing - Crocodile Attack

LOOKING FURTHER: Members of the search and rescue team comb the river to look for the victim.



ENGKILILI: The body of 13-year-old Peter Heerema Sadan, who went missing last Tuesday and suspected to have been attacked by a crocodile, was found around 6pm yesterday at Batang Lupar river near Linggang Ulu Tekalong in Batang Air Hilir.


However, an hour later, the body was missing, said Lubok Antu police chief DSP James Jonathan yesterday.

At press time the police were still looking for the body but villagers claimed the body went missing when they were distracted by the arrival of a search and rescue team who came to retrieve the body.

Peter was last seen bathing at the river with his stepbrother Kelimin Bayang around 4.30pm before he went missing.

According to a villager, Peter was fetching water for his family which he collected in a container before asking Kelimin to send it home. After that, he was said to have jumped into the river for a bath.

However, when Kelimin returned to the spot Peter was nowhere to be seen.

The late Peter lived with his grandfather Derin Malong after his parents divorced. Kelimin also lives with Derin.

Sri Aman Fire and Rescue Services Department and Lubok Antu district police jointly formed a search and rescue team to locate his body.

Although James confirmed holding the joint operation he declined to say whether the case was a crocodile attack.

The body was supposed to be sent for post mortem before it went missing.

Borneo Post May 24, 2012, Thursday

Man narrowly escapes from croc’s jaws

7 May 2012

                                                       Victim waiting to be x-rayed.

A man had a scare of his life after he was attacked by a crocodile while taking bath in Sungai Jawi in Sri Aman Division around 9am last Friday.(4thMay 2012)


The 43-year-old, said to be mentally challenged, was transferred to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) from Serian Hospital yesterday noon for further treatment on his injured left leg.

His sister told reporters at SGH that her brother rushed home naked after being attacked by the crocodile.

“It is quite common to see crocodiles in the river. We keep telling him not to take bath in the river, but he always refuses to listen.”

She said according to villagers who witnessed the attack, the crocodile was “quite big”.

Sungai Niah: Surirumah Tendang Kepala Buaya Selamatkan Diri

TERSELAMAT: Millie ketika menerima rawatan segera di Klinik Kesihatan Niah, selepas terselamat daripada dibaham buaya semalam.

Millie putus jari kaki ketika selamatkan diri daripada dibaham buaya Sg Niah

NIAH: Seorang surirumah bergelut dengan seekor buaya untuk menyelamatkan diri daripada dibaham reptilia itu dalam kes terbaharu serangan buaya yang berlaku di Sungai Niah di sini, awal pagi semalam.

Dalam kejadian itu, mangsa yang dikenali sebagai Millie Nueh, 36, dari Rumah Nor Ebit di sini, mengalami kecederaan putus salah satu jari kaki kanannya setelah digigit buaya berkenaan.

Menurut sumber, Pada 14 Februari 2012, sekitar jam 6.30 pagi , mangsa telah pergi ke sebuah jeti di Ulu Pangkalan Lobang, berhampiran Taman Negara Niah di sini untuk mencuci pakaian.

Ketika sedang mencuci pakaian di jeti berkenaan yang terletak kira-kira 100 meter dari rumah panjangnya, tiba-tiba mangsa berasa disambar sesuatu dipercayai buaya yang kemudian menariknya ke dalam sungai.

Mangsa kemudian mengerah sepenuh tenaga untuk melawan, termasuk menendang buaya berkenaan beberapa kali bagi melepaskan diri daripada terus dibaham.

Setelah berjaya melepaskan diri daripada gigitan buaya itu, mangsa naik ke daratan meskipun terpaksa menanggung kesakitan akibat kecederaan yang dialami.

Mangsa yang cedera kemudian dikejarkan ke Klinik Kesihatan Batu Niah untuk mendapatkan rawatan segera.

Sementara itu, suami mangsa, Lad Labang ketika ditemui di tempat kejadian percaya, buaya yang menyerang isterinya berukuran kira-kira 12 kaki panjang.

“Buaya berkenaan sempat dilihat melibas-libaskan ekornya beberapa kali sebelum menyelam selepas isteri saya berjaya menyelamatkan diri,” ujarnya sambil memberitahu, serangan buaya itu berlaku setengah jam setelah mangsa sampai di jeti berkenaan.

Difahamkan, sejak beberapa hari lalu, penduduk di sekitar kawasan itu sering melihat kelibat buaya timbul di sungai berkenaan.

Sungai itu merupakan sumber utama bekalan air bagi penduduk setempat kerana tidak mempunyai bekalan air bersih untuk mandi dan kegunaan harian lain.

Boy missing in swamp while retrieving crab trap

OVER THERE: Uzaed points to the area of the swamp where Idris went

DISTRAUGHT: Semariang assemblywoman Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali (right) consoling Idris’

Mohd Idris Roni

KUCHING: A Form 1 boy is missing and feared drowned after he disappeared while trying to retrieve his crab trap in a swamp near Sungai Midin near here during high tide on Wednesday.
Mohd Idris Roni, 13, was with his 15-year-old friend Mohd Uzaed Safari in chest-high water in the swamp, about 200 metres away from his house at Kampung Semerah Padi, when the incident happened around 6.30pm.
Prior to the incident, Idris had arrived home from school and quickly changed out of his uniform, telling his mother he was going to meet up with Mohd Uzaed despite her asking him to have his dinner first.
According to Mohd Uzaed, Idris dived underwater to retrieve his trap, from where the duo had placed them at noon prior to going to school, but did not resurface.

“I briefly saw both his legs stick out from under the water after he dived in. His legs were flailing but they soon disappeared,” said Mohd Uzaed when met yesterday.
Idris’ father, Roni Sahri, said he was notified of the incident at 6.45pm and quickly began searching for his son – the youngest of six children – together with fellow villagers.

He said Idris, who knew how to swim, loved to catch crabs and would always check his traps as soon as he returned from school.

The Fire and Rescue Service Department launched a search-and-rescue operation after receiving a distress call at 7.20pm, focusing on Sungai Midin and its tributaries, Sungai Semariang Batu and Sungai Semariang Kanan, with assistance from Civil Defence Department and Rela personnel as well as local villagers.

Meanwhile, Semariang assemblywoman Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali paid a visit to the missing boy’s family after learning of the incident and consoled Idris’ mother, who was distraught over what had happened.

Borneopost 10/2/2012

Search for missing boy halted after human head

KUCHING: The search operation for Form 1 student Mohd Idris Roni, who disappeared on Wednesday while trying to retrieve his crab trap, appears to have come to an end after a decomposed human head was found yesterday.

The discovery was made around 5pm by villagers along Sungai Jambu, a tributary of Sungai Midin, roughly three kilometres from the swamp where the 13-year-old went missing.
However, district police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad said the victim’s father, Roni Sahri, was unable to positively identify the head as that of Mohd Idris, adding that a DNA test would be carried out to confirm the identity.

Roni, accompanied by his sons and relatives, arrived at the Sarawak General Hospital mortuary following the discovery and spoke to deputy district police chief Supt Abang Ahmad Abang Julai, but left after failing to confirm the head was that of his son.

Meanwhile, Petra Jaya fire station chief Terry Robson said the Fire and Rescue Services Department received word of the discovery at 5.20pm.

“A human head, believed to belong to the victim, was spotted floating in the river and recovered by villagers. It has been sent to the Sarawak General Hospital for a post mortem,” he said, adding the search operation will be put on hold for the time being, but will resume in the event the recovered head was found to be that of someone else.

Relatives and villagers, who gathered in front of the missing student’s house at Kampung Semerah Padi after hearing of the discovery, speculated that the torso and limbs could have been devoured by crocodiles.

A relative, who asked not to be named, ruled out the possibility that Mohd Idris had been attacked by a crocodile on that fateful day, saying it was more likely that he drowned while trying to retrieve his trap and that his body was then devoured by the reptiles, which are known to inhabit Sungai Midin and its tributaries.

Family members, particularly the victim’s mother Rabinah Junaidi, were too distraught to speak to the press and requested for their privacy to be respected.

Mohd Idris, whose hobby was catching crabs, vanished underwater on Wednesday while diving to retrieve a crab trap during high tide at a swamp along Sungai Midin, roughly 200 metres from his house.

He had only just returned from school around 6pm before changing out of his uniform and dashing out of the house to inspect his trap which he and his friend Mohd Uzaed had placed prior to going to school.

His 15-year-old friend, who accompanied him to the swamp, told reporters then that they were standing in chest-high water when the victim dived underwater to fetch his trap.
He recalled that the last he saw of his close friend was both of Mohd Idris’ flailing legs emerge briefly before disappearing back underwater.

Borneopost 12/02/2012

Escape from the jaws of death

SURVIVOR: Millie rests in the Batu Niah clinic.

BATU NIAH: Housewife fights off ravenous croc losing a toe while knocking off one of its teeth in the process.

A housewife fought the battle of her life with a crocodile after it attacked her on a rickety jetty by the bank of the Niah River around 6.30am yesterday morning.
Millie Nush, 36, from Rumah Nor had been doing her laundry near a footpath leading to the Niah National Park for about half an hour when the 12-foot reptile suddenly struck and pulled her into the water.
She kicked frantically and somehow managed to free herself before scrambling back to shore.
“My wife fought and kept on kicking at the crocodile until it let go of its grip. We were surprised to find what seems to be a crocodile tooth embedded in her wounds,” said her husband Lad Labang.
Miraculously, Millie only suffered cuts to her right leg as well as a partially severed fourth toe.
She was rushed to the Batu Niah clinic and a police report was later lodged at the Batu Niah police station.
Lad added that after its failed attack, the crocodile had twisted and splashed about in the river in a seemingly taunting manner before disappearing.

This latest incident was an eerie reminder of the fatal crocodile attack on a school boy in 2001 at a spot just 2km away.
Then a 15-foot female crocodile dubbed Dara Subis had grabbed 10-year-old Jaba Kana, who was bathing in the river.
A General Operations Force (GOF) sharpshooter managed to shoot it twice in the head about 22 hours after the heinous attack.
The victim’s severed arm and leg were later found in the crocodile’s stomach.Read more:

Borneopost February 18, 2012, Saturday

73 croc attacks on humans in last two decades

KUCHING: Seventy-three crocodile attacks on human beings have been recorded since 1990, 33 of them fatal, says Special Functions Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem.

“The increase in crocodile population has subsequently led to conflicts with humans, especially those depending on rivers for their livelihood and transportation,” Adenan said in his winding-up speech yesterday.

He said the government had taken proactive steps to resolve the issue by implementing educational and awareness programmes with the local communities, putting up crocodile warning signs at sites known to be infested with crocodiles and culling operation at rivers with high crocodile population.

“The capture and culling of crocodiles from their natural habitats are part and parcel of the wildlife management, yet these are often viewed negatively by certain groups of people,” he said.

Adenan said the recent International Crocodile Conference (ICC) in Kuching was organised to share and gather ideas on resolving the human-crocodile conflict.

Among the resolutions of the ICC are to come up with a standard and monitoring programme and to establish a comprehensive database; to determine the strategy to downgrade crocodile status from Convention on International Trade in Engendered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) Appendix I to CITES Appendix II; to prepare sufficient allocation for long term management and monitoring crocodile population; to prepare safety guidelines for river users and to ensure that crocodile management plan would benefit local communities

Posted on Borneo Post November 23, 2011, Wednesday