Jamal remembers the day like it was yesterday.
Four years ago, while fishing off the coast of Palu in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, his routine trip turned into a life-or-death battle.
It all happened so fast, he said.
Out on his boat alone in the early evening, Jamal was ambushed by a saltwater crocodile that climbed aboard and dragged him into the water.
“There were 10 bite marks on my body,” he recalled.
“I wrestled with the crocodile.” Acting on instinct, he grabbed a knife from his boat. “Within five minutes, I stabbed its eye, and it let go. If we panic, we’re done for.”
Jamal survived. He swam back to his boat, steered it to shore, and ran to the nearest clinic. A week later, he was back at sea.
“I’m not afraid because the ocean is our livelihood,” he said.
World’s highest number of fatal attacks
Jamal is one of the lucky ones. Many are less fortunate.
In January 2024, Arjo, a fisherman from Bangka Island off Sumatra’s eastern coast, was setting his nets in the shallow waters of the Nyire River when a crocodile struck.
“It grabbed me from behind and pulled me under,” Arjo, 34, said. “I had no time to think – only to fight.”
With his left hand, he clung desperately to a wooden pole while the crocodile’s jaws crushed his right.
In a desperate act of survival, he bit the reptile’s face, hoping to startle it. After a gruelling 10 minutes, the predator finally released him.
Bleeding heavily, Arjo swam to shore and walked nearly three kilometres before receiving help.
He lost his hand but survived – an increasingly rare outcome in Indonesia’s growing tally of crocodile attacks.
Others weren’t as lucky
Recently, a 51-year-old man was pulled underwater by a crocodile while swimming off Palu on Sulawesi – an island between Borneo and New Guinea known for its coral reefs.
Rescue workers who rushed to the scene found him caught in the large crocodile’s jaw. The animal was shot dead – but it was too late for its victim.
According to statistics from the independent CrocAttack database, there were 179 crocodile attacks on humans in Indonesia last year alone – far more than in any other country.
For 92 victims, the encounter ended fatally. Often the bodies are never found.
By comparison: in Australia, whose tropical regions are often portrayed as extremely dangerous, only seven attacks with three fatalities were recorded.
Humans and wildlife fight for resources
Local fishermen say crocodile sightings have become increasingly common in many Indonesian regions where they were once rare.
Amir Hamidy, a reptile expert at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), says habitat loss and a growing human population on the world’s largest island state are primarily responsible for the dangerous trend.
“As the crocodile population and the human population increase and compete for the same resources, interactions become inevitable,” says Hamidy.
Saltwater crocodile: Largest and most aggressive species
Indonesia is home to several crocodile species, but most conflicts arise with the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
It is the largest and most aggressive crocodile species and is found throughout South-East Asia and Australia. These animals can exceed six metres in length and are extremely territorial.
They are also extremely adaptable and thrive in a variety of habitats, from rivers and mangrove forests to coastal waters.
“This adaptability, combined with their wide range, increases their chances of encountering humans,” Hamidy emphasizes.
Crocodiles thriving in man-made waters
Attacks are more frequent than average in the regions of East Kalimantan on Borneo and Bangka-Belitung off Sumatra. This is due not only to the increase in agriculture but also to mining activities.
The often illegal tin mining in Bangka-Belitung has created many artificial bodies of water which are an ideal habitat for crocodiles in search of new hunting grounds.
Around 90% of the tin exported by Indonesia comes from this province. Numerous prehistoric reptiles have now taken up residence in abandoned pits, says animal rights activist Endy Yusuf.
The construction of canals for palm oil plantations and other changes to waterways have also created new habitats. As a result, the presence of crocodiles in populated areas has increased dramatically. Often with fatal consequences.
In Bangka alone, two people were killed and four others injured by crocodiles earlier this year. Yusuf believes the real numbers are likely much higher due to underreporting.
One local fisherman, Arjo, narrowly escaped death after an attack in the Nyire River because, according to his own account, he managed to bite the crocodile in the face with his last ounce of strength.
After a desperate 10-minute fight, the animal finally let go of him, he says. But Arjo lost his right hand in the fight with the croc.
Hunting ban fuels population spike
Once heavily hunted for their meat and leather, crocodiles in Indonesia were pushed to the brink of extinction. Crocodile meat is considered a delicacy, and crocodile leather is used to make luxury handbags, belts and boots.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), numerous crocodile species were hunted so heavily in the past that they almost became extinct.
Since banning large-scale crocodile hunting in the late 1990s, Indonesia has seen a rebound in populations across much of the country — but some regions remain exceptions.
On the densely populated main island of Java, saltwater crocodiles are practically extinct due to the extensive destruction of their habitat and years of hunting.
Lack of warning systems
On many other islands, however, the armoured animals remain a huge problem.
In contrast to other countries – such as Australia, where exclusion zones and warning systems help to minimize conflicts between crocodiles and humans – there are no such protective measures in Indonesia.
At the same time, rivers and the sea are the livelihood of many Indonesians and an integral part of everyday life.
Crocodile expert Hamidy says: “We have to find ways to coexist while minimizing the risks for humans and crocodiles.”
Yet how to accomplish this, remains unclear.
Jamal, 50, poses on Talise Beach near where he survived a crocodile attack in Palu Bay. He is one of a dozen fisherman who survived an attack from a 2.5-metre crocodile. Muhammad Taufan/dpa
This saltwater crocodile is one of many that lives in Palu Bay in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The animals are the largest reptiles in the world and can reach a length of 7 metres. Muhammad Taufan/dpa