In East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia, a tragic incident involving a mother washing clothes in a river and her son searching for her body resulted in both of them being killed by the same crocodile. The incident brings attention to the increasing conflicts between humans and wildlife in the province.
On Wednesday, February 5, Alvina Doki, 64, was doing her laundry in the Ledewero River when a large crocodile attacked her. Her husband, Gabriel Sinyo, 60, witnessed the attack and tried to rescue her by hurling rocks at the crocodile. However, the reptile pulled her underwater and vanished.
Henry Novika Chandra, regional police commissioner, stated, “The victim was attacked by a crocodile while washing clothes. Currently, her body has not been found. Our members together with the local community are still continuing the search. Hopefully the victim’s body will be found soon.”
Later that same day, her son, Wilsilius Lomi, 35, was separated from the search party and was attacked by what is believed to be the same crocodile while looking for his mother’s body. His body was recovered the following morning.
Assistant Commissioner Yusuf Tarapadjang provided details about the recovery of Lomi’s body. “We finally found Wilsilius’ body about 550 yards from where he was attacked. His body had a number of claw and tear wounds. The body was intact, there were only wounds on the legs and stomach from being attacked by the crocodile.”
This incident reflects the increasing pattern of crocodile-human conflicts in Indonesia. The country has seen over 1,000 crocodile attacks in the past decade, resulting in 486 deaths. The Bangka-Belitung province alone has recorded more than 60 fatalities since 2016.
In December, another fatal attack occurred near Deaa Orahili Beach in North Sumatra, where a 13-foot crocodile killed Nurhawati Zihura, 46. Witnesses reported the crocodile performing a death roll before pulling her underwater. Locals attempted to retrieve her body by throwing dead chickens into the water to distract the crocodile when it resurfaced with her body.
In regions affected by mining activities, the frequency of attacks has significantly increased. In August 2024, a 54-year-old woman, Halima Rahakbauw, was killed while swimming in a river in the village of Wali in eastern Indonesia. After killing the 13-foot reptile responsible, villagers found parts of her body.
Recently, in the Bangka-Belitung Islands, a five-year-old girl identified as Chaca was taken by a saltwater crocodile while she was bathing in an abandoned tin-ore mining pond. “The victim was snatched by a crocodile,” said I Made Oka Astawa, head of the search and rescue agency in Pangkalpinang. Her body was recovered early the next morning after an extensive search involving local rescuers, army, and police personnel.
Another fatal incident took place in West Kalimantan province, where a 44-year-old woman was attacked by a crocodile while working on a palm oil plantation. Despite attempts by her colleague to save her, she was dragged by the crocodile into a ditch. Her body was discovered 90 minutes later, still in the crocodile’s grip.
Experts believe the rapid expansion of palm oil plantations, logging projects, and illegal tin mining operations as significant factors in the increasing human-crocodile conflicts, especially in Borneo’s rainforest areas. These developments have significantly reduced the natural barriers between human settlements and crocodile habitats.
Particularly, the Bangka island region, one of the world’s richest tin-mining areas, has become a hotspot for these deadly encounters. Decades of tin exploitation have left the island deforested, creating thousands of abandoned mining pits that have become new habitats for crocodiles. As land deposits diminish, miners are increasingly moving to coastal areas, further displacing these predators from their traditional territories.
Environmental experts attribute the rise in attacks to several factors. The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 species of crocodiles, with a significant population of estuarine crocodiles that thrive in the local climate. Overfishing has reduced their natural food supplies, while coastal development and widespread tin mining have destroyed their habitats, forcing them closer to human settlements.
Conservation authorities note that the combination of habitat loss and local communities’ continued reliance on rivers for daily activities has created dangerous conditions for human-crocodile interaction.
