Indonesia is No 1 for crocodile attacks. Is palm oil to blame?

Indonesia recorded nearly 180 crocodile attacks last year, with 92 fatalities. Some say palm-oil plantations are making the problem worse

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Crocodiles in Budong-Budong, Indonesia’s West Sulawesi Island. Photo: AP

Published: 10:04am, 17 Mar 2025Updated: 10:07am, 17 Mar 2025

Nearly seven months after a crocodile attack almost took her life, Munirpa walked to the estuary outside her home with her husband and her children, ready to brave a re-enactment.

Munirpa, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, recounted how one early morning in August, she threw her household rubbish into a creek about 50 metres (164 feet) away from her house, as she normally would.

She didn’t see what was coming next.

By the time she realised a crocodile had attacked her, the four-metre-long (13-foot) beast had already sunk its teeth into most of her body, sparing only her head. She fought hard, trying to jab its eyes. Her husband, hearing her screams, ran over and tried to pull her by the thigh out of the crocodile’s jaws. A tug of war ensued; the reptile whipped him with its tail. Fortunately, he saved Munirpa in time, eventually dragging her out of the crocodile’s grip.

Munirpa, a crocodile-attack survivor, at the location where she was nearly killed by a four-metre-long crocodile in Topoyo, West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: AP

People have long feared the ancient predators in the Central Mamuju district of Indonesia’s West Sulawesi, where the Budong-Budong River meets the sea. For Munirpa, 48, that fear turned into a brutal reality when she became one of nearly 180 recorded crocodile-attack victims in Indonesia last year. Residents like her are learning to coexist with the crocodiles, a legally protected species in Indonesia, as they balance conservation with looking out for their safety. But as attacks rise, several residents and experts have called for better government interventions to stop the problem from getting even worse.