The crocodile, first sighted in a monsoon drain near the Likas Vocational College on Saturday, was also the third captured by the wildlife rescue unit (WRU) after the major floods that hit the state in September.

“There were quite a number of sightings after the floods but this is the third we rescued (in September),” wildlife department assistant director Sen Nathan told FMT.

“The recent heavy rain and flooding may have caused many crocodiles to make their way from the rivers deep in the forests to Kota Kinabalu.”

He, however, did not have the number of crocodiles caught last year offhand.

In the latest incident, the wildlife rescue unit set up a steel trap in a monsoon drain on Monday after being alerted to the crocodile sighting by staff from the college. It had earlier carried out a day and night recce to establish where the reptile was.

Two days later, the team finally managed to ensnare the 2.1m male crocodile.

Sen, who also heads the unit, said the 12 crocodiles rescued this year were either found in drains, monsoon canals, rivers and near housing areas within the state capital.

Although there was no way to determine which rivers they had come from, he believed they could have found their way into the urban waterways that are connected to the complex network of rivers on the west coast.

These vast series of rivers cut through from deep inland to Penampang, Putatan and all the way to Kota Kinabalu.

Sen was thankful that apart from reports about missing pets, there have been no reports of crocodile attacks on humans in the city so far.

However, he cautioned that the human-wildlife conflict in Kota Kinabalu is “very real”.

“Basically, these two species don’t mix very well. When the crocodiles are small, they might pose minimal risks to humans but when they grow bigger, their prey base also grows bigger.

“So, what could happen is that stray dogs or cats or pets might go missing. But once they come to a size where they would require larger prey, then human beings would be at risk.

“There might not be a fatality but there will be an injury, that’s for sure,” he said.

He urged those who come across crocodiles in urban waterways to emulate the Likas Vocational College staff which immediately reported their sighting to the wildlife authorities.

Wildlife conservation expert Benoit Goossens is not surprised by the number of crocodiles rescued in the city, saying the reptiles can travel long distances.

Goossens, who is the director of research outfit Danau Girang Field Centre, also said it is difficult to pinpoint where the crocodiles had come from.

“Any river that has crocodiles on the west coast can have some reptile dispersing and ending up here,” he said.

However, he suspected that they could have originated from rivers in Penampang, Putatan and even from Klias, deep in southwestern Sabah.

“I don’t think those crocodiles are big enough to kill people but they can certainly kill dogs and cats and seriously injure children,” he said. “So, maybe, avoid going too close to river banks and lakes as well as large drains.”

Goossens said loss of habitat could be behind sub-adult crocodiles dispersing to other rivers. “This is worth investigating,” he said.

Most of the previous crocodile attacks involving human fatalities have taken place in remote districts such as Kudat and Pitas in the north, and in the east coast districts such as Lahad Datu, Tawau and Kalabakan.

Sabah wildlife director Augustine Tuuga had said in February the state has seen an increase in human-crocodile conflict with quite a number of attacks that led to loss of life the past few years.

He said this was due to an increase in the crocodile population following an effective conservation programme the last 30 years.