Jong’s Crocodile Farm is located about 30 km from
Kuching and it’s the only crocodile breeding farm in Malaysia. There
are plenty of road signs to direct you to the crocodile farm which is
located along the Kuching – Serian road. It is home to the legendary
man eating killer croc Bujang Senang. I went there with a couple of friends to check out the crocodiles during the weekend.
The entrance of Jong’s Crocodile Farm features a huge crocodile
sculpture in front of the diminutive entrance. It’s a replica of Bujang
Senang. The zoo is actually quite huge, with various breeding farms for
crocodiles. Jong’s Crocodile Farm also features other animals native to
Borneo, but the main attraction is the crocodiles, specifically the
crocodile feeding session (video below).
Jong’s Crocodile Farm charges RM 8 for adults and RM 4 for children
below the age of 12. It’s best to go during the crocodile feeding times
which happens twice daily – once at 11 pm and once at 3 pm. The
afternoon croc feeding demonstration is a good one to catch as there
are plenty of other interesting things to occupy your time. I would
recommend at least 2 hours for checking out the other sights at the
farm.
There is a huge glass display that confronts you right as you step
inside Jong’s Crocodile Farm. It contains the substantial skull and jaw
of the notorious Bujang Senang killer crocodile that
reigned in blood until the fateful day on the 12th of May 1992 when it
was brought down by a shotgun in Sri Aman (also on display).
Jong’s Crocodile Farm has pictures of Bujang Senang’s reign of
terror on the walls of the entrance. I remember the crocodile from my
childhood – it was something of a household name during a killing spree
during the early 90’s. Bujang Senang translates to “Happy Bachelor”.
Don’t look at me, I wasn’t the one who named it.
There is a slot beside the shrine where people can put in cash
(though to what purpose, defeats me) and 4D numbers. Bujang Senang is a
huge crocodile that grew to 19 feet and 4 inches. It was struck down by
a shotgun shell in Sg. Pelaban in Lingga Batang Lupar at Sri Aman and
judging from the well formed and worn canines on its huge jaw, it must
have been justified. 😉
Jong’s Crocodile Farm and Zoo also has other animals on display,
like these two iguanas having a staring contest. I don’t know which one
blinked first.
There is also a museum like display of the lifecycle of a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus Porosus)
in the form of live exhibits ranging from eggs to the hatching stage at
92 days and right up to a six month old crocodile. The exhibits are
real crocodiles and eggs preserved in embalming fluid.
The entrance to the outdoor Jong’s Crocodile Farm is accessible from
a small gate which has a sign with the crocodile feeding time and
directions to the various other animals in the large Jong’s Crocodile
Farm natural zoo.
Jong’s Crocodile Farm features concrete enclosures (more like pits
actually) with lots and lots of crocodiles in various stages of their
lifecycle. The crocodiles are separated according to their age (and
thus, size) and does not seem to display aggression towards their own
kind.
There was even some reptile lovin’ going on in one of the pits…some sort of crocodile orgy.
The crocodile pits have wet and dry areas to simulate the natural
habitat of a saltwater crocodile. It goes sequentially from small
(young) to large (older) crocodiles and after a certain age, the
crocodiles are released into another area inside the crocodile farm.
The larger crocodiles look kinda cute with their intricate scaly
exterior. I like the two crocodiles sizing each other up in the middle.
Crocodiles have existed since the age of the dinosaurs and they predate
man and probably would outlast us in the evolutionary cycle.
This crocodile looks sinister (in a nice way) when it’s partially
submerged in the water with only the snout showing. It looks rather
like a log when it does this. I think this is the stage where it learns
how to hunt.
I think this crocodile doesn’t like me very much…
There were two unusual live crocodiles on display.
This is a Tailless Crocodile. I don’t know if it’s
a genetic defect or whether another crocodile ate its tail. It’s still
alive and staring. It looks grumpy.
Jong’s Crocodile Farm also has an “Eyeless Crocodile“. I feel compelled to share the signage coz it’s like Ripley’s “Believe it or not”.
This is the “Eyeless Crocodile”. Again, no mention is made on
whether the crocodile was born without eyes or whether another
crocodile took out its eye. I think it’s the former though coz there’s
only scales where its eyes are supposed to go.
There are also other animals in cages or roaming around freely. This
is a very curious bird that doesn’t fly and isn’t afraid of people. It
came up to me and cocked its head to look at me.
This is a colorful ostrich. I didn’t know ostriches look like this.
There is also a Borneo Sun Bear which was isolated in the middle of a concrete unit. It was pacing around restlessly.
I had to console this monkey after she was brutally raped and left
bleeding and crying. We chatted for a while, and after I established
that she was OK, we moved on to the other exhibits.
Jong’s Crocodile Farm also features a huge manmade pond full of Arapaima Gigas. It’s one of the largest freshwater fish in the world and the size of these things easily reaches meters.
It’s not exactly a very friendly fish though…there is one
partially submerged in this photo. It’s shy but you can find it in the
upper right hand corner if you squint a bit.
There are actually crocodiles wondering around, so watch your step when you go to Jong’s crocodile farm.
It was soon nearing the 3 pm feeding time so we made our way to the crocodile feeding pond.
The crocodile feeding pond has a watchtower of sorts on the other
side (inaccessible to the public) which features a contraption spanning
the entire pond (which is crawling with crocodiles).
The contraption is operated by a staff of Jong’s Crocodile Farm and
features a pulley system to put whole chickens on hooks before rolling
it out to the crocodile infested pond.
The meat is suspended about a meter off the surface of the water and
the hungry crocodiles slowly float towards the chicken. It’s the calm
before the feeding frenzy starts…
Crocodiles can leap from the water and launch themselves
surprisingly high into the air to snap at the meat dangling from the
hook.
More crocodile acrobatics from Jong’s Crocodile Farm…
/me holds up sign for 10.
Download: Jong’s Crocodile Farm crocodile feeding [sixthseal.com]
Jong’s Crocodile Farm is worth visiting for some
quality time with our reptilian friends. The crocodile feeding show is
worth the RM 8 entrance fee itself!
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