BY THURKGASHIRINI ARUMUGAM
Jong’s Crocodile Farm is Malaysia’s first and largest captive breeding crocodile farm. It’s at Mile 18 1/2 on the Kuching-Serian Highway, about 29 kilometres and a 20-minute leisure drive from Kuching.
The farm, which is located in a residential area, is open to the public at reasonable prices, starting at RM10 for children and free for those with special needs.
Visitors to the farm will be greeted by a baby crocodile at the entrance, and they will be able to take pictures with it as well. It is completely safe because its mouth is temporarily taped shut. Not to worry, the tape does not hurt the little greeter!
Yong Kian Sen, the farm’s founder, began collecting crocodiles in 1963. Following that, in 1979, his family purchased a hectare of land in Siburan to establish a crocodile farm.
The farm currently has around 2,000 captive-bred crocodiles. It provides an ideal haven for the reptiles, protecting the species from extinction. It is also home to many natural ponds where crocodiles can breed and mate.
Other animals that live there besides crocodiles include peacocks, goats, wild boars, arapaima fish, monkeys, leopard cats, sun bears, bearcats, pheasants, civets, barking deer, sambar deer, turtles, fruit bats, and monitor lizards.
It also houses three giant crocodiles known as Bujang Sudin, Bujang Samariang, and Pak Indo.
Pak Indo is the farm’s oldest crocodile and has been dubbed “The Grandfather” among the crocodiles. He was acquired from Indonesia in 1963. Crocodiles are traded all over the world. Earlier buyers came from Japan, Bangladesh, China, and Iran, among others.
Visitors can see the animals being fed at specific ponds at 11am and 3pm. There is also a door open for visitors to interact with non-threatening animals.
The employees are friendly, and they also guide and ensure that visitors are safe when they come into contact with the animals.
The farm is also well-known for having Malaysia’s only crocodile gallery. It collected not only the skull of the legendary Bujang Senang (one of the largest and most feared crocodiles in Sarawak), but also records of most of the memorable man-eating crocodiles in the area.
Visitors can also view displays of authentic photographs, close-ups of crocodile eggs, and replicas of crocodile skeletons.
- This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Language and Communication, UNIMAS.
