POPULATION ECOLOGY AND POTENTIAL FOOD SOURCES OF THE SALTWATER CROCODILES IN KAWANG RIVER, SABAH

ABSTRACT. Kawang River is one of the remaining habitats for Crocodylusporosus (saltwater crocodile) on the west coast of Sabah. The objectives of this study are to find the current abundance of C. porosus, to obtain their historical background, list fish and invertebrates that could be their food sources, and potential human-crocodile conflict (HCC) issues in the Kawang River. Spotlight surveys to search for crocodiles and interview surveys were conducted to obtain more information on their historical background and HCC issues. Two fishing trips were also made to investigate the potential food sources (fish and invertebrates) of C. porosus in the river. Results from three spotlight surveys showed 36 C. porosus were recorded. The average calculated density of C. porosus was 2.73 crocodiles km-1andthe value has appeared to increase marginally from 2.11 crocodiles km-1 but statistical analysis showed that there was no significant mean difference of density of the C. porosus between the past and current study. From the 18 local people interviewed, 15 claimed that they have seen crocodiles in the Kawang River with high proportion (50% of different crocodile sizes estimated by the interviewees) of immature crocodiles. The results from fishing trips identified seven species of fish and two species of invertebrates as potential food sources. Interview results showed that the awareness of the local people towards HCC was low in the Kawang River, altogether with poor livestock management and human encroachment into crocodile habitats, these factors can trigger HCC in the future.

KEYWORDS. Abundance, human-crocodile conflict, interview surveys

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