Sarawak Confronts Rising Crocodile Encounters After Population Rebound — Villagers Demand Action

In a riverside indigenous community in Sarawak, a long-standing local rule — leave crocodiles alone and they will generally avoid people — has been shattered. The village headman, Daniel Muking, lost his son in a crocodile attack in May 2024, a tragedy that has sharpened calls for stronger safety measures along the state’s rivers.

“It has eaten my child, so I have every right to kill it,”

Daniel said, voicing the grief and anger felt by his family and neighbours.

Officials say crocodile encounters in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, have risen as the reptile population rebounds. A recent survey estimated more than 25,000 crocodiles in 2024 after populations were nearly wiped out by heavy exploitation in the 1980s. Authorities reported 22 deaths from crocodile attacks between 2023 and 2025, with five fatalities recorded so far this year.

Sarawak Deputy Natural Resources Minister Len Talif Salleh said the state must strike a careful balance between conserving wildlife and protecting riverside communities. In response, the Sarawak government has begun issuing hunting licences and launched a mobile application to let the public report crocodile sightings, steps intended to improve monitoring and targeted interventions.

The Sarawak Forestry Corporation said that although crocodiles are being seen more frequently near settlements, attacks have declined compared with two decades ago.

“Crocodiles may be appearing more frequently near (human) settlements because they can find food more easily there,”

said the corporation’s general manager, Abang Arabi Abang Aimran.

Authorities are working with licensed hunters and local communities to remove or relocate crocodiles found close to villages and busy riverbanks. In Daniel’s community, villagers identified a specific animal they believed responsible for the May attack; licensed hunters later located and removed that crocodile, offering the family a form of closure.

Outlook and community measures: Officials emphasize that coexistence will require continued monitoring, improved reporting, community education about safe river practices, and targeted removal of problem animals. The state’s combined approach — conservation-minded management, community engagement and selective culling or relocation under licence — aims to reduce risk while preserving the species’ recovery.

The recent incidents underscore the complex trade-offs between wildlife recovery and human safety, and have renewed debate in Sarawak about how best to protect both riverside communities and a species that has made a remarkable comeback.