Perhilitan finally traps Mamat the saltwater crocodile

KUALA NERUS: The National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) finally caught the elusive saltwater crocodile, named 'Mamat' by local residents, at an abandoned mine here, yesterday.

Terengganu Perhilitan chief, Dr Abdul Malek Mohd Yusuf said the 3.9-metre long crocodile was caught in one of the traps set up by the department at 5.45 pm.

"Mamat will be transported tonight to the Paya Indah Wetlands (PIW) in Dengkil, Selangor," he said in a statement here, yesterday.

He said a 17-member Perhilitan team had installed three traps at the mine to capture Mamat since last May which was not met with any success, until yesterday.

The story of Mamat, which was said to have lost his way and ended up in the mine, is not new for the residents of Terengganu but the news went viral, however, in 2016.

Local residents often fed the reptile which was only about a metre long when it was first spotted.

Mamat appeared to be not aggressive prompting many to go to the mine area to have a closer look at it.

-- BERNAMA