E

xperts have called on Jakarta residents, especially those who live near riverbanks, to reduce their activities in rivers following the recent sightings of saltwater crocodiles in the city’s rivers.

A member of the Wildlife Conservation Society who is currently working on herpetofauna projects, Maslim As-singkily, said on Thursday there was a good chance the saltwater crocodiles would revisit particular sites because of their highly territorial nature. The likelihood was even greater if the site provided them with an abundant food supply, the expert went on.

“Considering that much of Jakarta’s waters are now polluted, the crocodiles are probably venturing further into the waters near residential areas in search of food,” Maslim said, explaining that a similar phenomenon had occurred in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) when crocodiles entered residential areas because residents disposed of fish waste on river banks.

Therefore, he called on Jakarta residents not to dump fish waste and other household waste into rivers. In addition, he urged authorities to set up a board to inform residents about the crocodiles’ presence in the rivers.

Meanwhile, further studies are needed to ascertain the exact reason behind the crocodiles’ appearance in Jakarta’s rivers.

Maslim further explained there were certain factors that could have caused the crocodiles to venture out of their usual environment. First, it could have happened because their habitat and food had dwindled, and second, it might be due to a population explosion of crocodiles.

A crocodile was reportedly spotted swimming in Grogol River — very close to a residential area — on Wednesday morning. Some residents who saw the reptile recorded the findings and uploaded it to social media. The footage was then published by Twitter account @jktinfo.

A number of residents then said they saw two other crocodiles appearing in the waters not long after the first one.

A joint team, consisting of officials from the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency and the Environment and Forestry Ministry had tried to catch the animals, which had been seen several times, but to no avail.

Two weeks earlier, on June 15, a crocodile was also seen in Pondok Dayung, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. Last week, there was a second sighting of a crocodile near the East Flood Canal in Cilincing, also in North Jakarta.

It is still unclear whether the crocodile was the same one spotted in Tanjung Priok.

As of now, none of the crocodiles have been caught by the authorities.

Separately, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said there was an indication the crocodiles were domestic animals released by an owner no longer able keep the creatures at home.

A similar statement was released by Jakarta Natural Resources Conversation Agency (BKSDA) head Ahmad Munawir, who said such animals could be kept as pets as long as the keeper obtained a breeding permit from the agency.

Many of the keepers eventually give up and hand the reptiles back to the BKSDA as their pets grow bigger, stronger and harder to control, Ahmad revealed.

“But some of the keepers might just release the crocodiles into the river because they think the river is the reptiles’ natural habitat, but it actually causes so much trouble for us,” Ahmad told The Jakarta Post via phone. “The crocodiles in Grogol River, which is far from the crocodile conversation area in North Jakarta, were allegedly released by their owner,” he added.

Ahmad called on residents to stay safe and alert while the authorities searched for the crocodiles.