The destruction of coastal wetlands for illegal tin mining and oil palm plantations is to blame for a surge in crocodile attacks on people on Indonesia’s Bangka Island, residents say.
Mongabay Indonesia contributor Taufik Wijaya reported that in February this year, a 40-year-old fisherman was killed by a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in the Menduk River. He was possibly the 21st victim of a crocodile attack in the last five years on Bangka Island, according to local wildlife charity the Alobi Foundation. The attacks have also resulted in 12 crocodiles being killed and dozens of humans and crocs injured during the same period.
People have lived in the wetlands of the Menduk River estuary since the 7th century, but the recent rise in crocodile attacks has been attributed to the region’s changing landscape.
Approximately 1,000 hectares (around 2,500 acres) of oil palm plantations and 250 illegal tin mining sites have taken over the Menduk wetlands, according to Suhadi, a resident of Menduk village and the manager of a community group established by Indonesia’s largest environmental NGO, Walhi.
Bangka and neighboring Belitung Island were once responsible for more than a quarter of global tin production. Much of the environmental degradation is a legacy of that tin mining, researchers say, including possible illegal mining that became the focus of a massive recent corruption scandal.
As the wetlands are destroyed, crocodiles are forced to migrate to new territories, leading to increased aggression and territorial disputes, said Endi R. Yusuf, manager of the Alobi Foundation’s animal rescue center.
Residents say they’re increasingly fearful of entering the water to fish or farm, and fish stocks are declining as wetlands degrade.
Over time, climate change may also affect crocodiles, as warmer temperatures may raise their metabolism and increase human water use, further compounding the risk of encounters, researchers noted in a 2023 study.
With the Alobi Foundation’s animal sanctuary on Bangka currently at capacity, Endi said protecting habitats is crucial. “A conservation area is really needed in the Bangka-Belitung islands to accommodate [saltwater] crocodiles,” he said, adding that the charity had identified intact wetlands in Central Bangka district where such a zone could be created.
Jessix Amundian, director of the nonprofit Tumbek for Earth, noted that creating a conservation area for saltwater crocodiles isn’t enough. He said the condition of the island’s rivers, swamps and mangroves needs to be restored.
Suhadi told Mongabay Indonesia that the root of the conflict must be addressed first. “If we want to stop the conflict, we must stop destroying wetlands,” he said.
Read the full story by Taufik Wijaya here.
Banner image: A captive crocodile at the Alobi Foundation’s wildlife rescue center in January 2026. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia.
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