Temporal Distribution of Saltwater Crocodile in Bako River, Sarawak

Saltwater crocodiles occur in most river basin and small rivers. Bako River is one of the rivers that support large amount of C. porosus population in Sarawak. Although crocodile’s density and distribution in Bako River have been assessed yearly, none of them focus on the effect of monsoon seasons. The objective of this study is to document C. porosus distribution according to size along 15 km stretch of Bako River during south-west monsoon (SWM), inter-monsoon (IM), north-east monsoon (NEM). Besides, this study riverine landscape along Bako River had also been documented. From this study, hatchlings could easily spot during all three monsoons. Moreover, in SWM and IM monsoon seasons, Avecinnia region have the most number of hatchlings, most probably due to the abundance of food sources and also nest or nursery ground are nearby. However, at NEM, yearlings dominated the Avecinnia region. Meanwhile, for sub adult and adult, which were found separated from each other, frequently spotted near human settlement, maybe due to high tolerance towards human disturbances or feeding ground for easy food. This result also reflected the territorial behavior of mature crocodiles