Registered crocodile farms in Phuket were inspected by the Department of Fisheries yesterday in a bid to find out where a 3-metre saltwater crocodile that was spotted running wild in the area before it was caught last week came from.
Local officials first paid a visit to Phuket Zoo in Muang district, which ranks as the largest repository of crocodiles in the province with 240 freshwater and 100 saltwater specimens living on its crocodile farm. It is the only known home of the saltwater variety in the area.
A senior fisheries official from the Phuket Fisheries Office, who declined to be named, said an initial examination found the zoo-based farm had tight security to prevent crocodiles escaping even in the event of flooding.
Its distance from the site where the animal was captured also makes it an unlikely base for the crocodile, he said.
There are six registered crocodile farms in the province, four in Muang district and two in Thalang district where the giant crocodile was found, the department said. However, the two in Talang have not reported being in possession of any crocodiles for a number of years, officials said.
Bang Tao beach in Talang district used to serve as a natural habitat for saltwater crocodiles but locals have not seen them in the wild there for decades, the senior official said.
One could have survived there undetected by fishermen and other locals, he said, adding that an old mining site where it may have lived was just 30m from the shoreline.
Norraphat Plodthong, who was installed as the new Phuket governor in April, ordered the local kamnan and village chiefs to gather information about whether any villages in the area were operating illegal crocodile farms.
The animal was caught two days after a photo emerged of it swimming in the sea near a Phuket beach that was shared online.
It is now in the custody of the Department of Fisheries while animal rights groups are rallying for its release back into the wild.
Local officials consider this irresponsible given the potential threat to tourists.
Given the shrinking population of wild saltwater crocodiles in Thailand, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation should work with the Department of Fisheries to study whether it can be returned to a place safe for the animal and tourists alike, Sasin Chalermlarp, chairman of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, said.
He pointed to Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore as role models given that crocodiles exist there in the wild without causing harm to humans.
