Crocodile attacks in Indonesia are on the rise. It's left residents on edge

BUDONG-BUDONG, Indonesia (AP) — Nearly seven months after a crocodile attack almost took her life, Munirpa walked to the estuary outside her home with her husband and her children, ready to brave a reenactment.

Munirpa, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, recounted how one early morning in August, she threw her household garbage into a creek about 50 meters (164 feet) away from her house, as she normally would.

She didn't see what was coming next.

By the time she realized a crocodile had attacked her, the four-meter-long (13-foot) beast had already sunk its teeth into most of her body, sparing only her head. She fought hard, trying to jab its eyes. Her husband, hearing her screams, ran over and tried to pull her by the thigh out of the crocodile's jaws. A tug-of-war ensued; the reptile whipped him with its tail. Fortunately, he saved Munirpa in time, eventually dragging her out of the crocodile's grip.

People have long feared the ancient predators in the Central Mamuju district of Indonesia’s West Sulawesi, where the Budong-Budong River meets the sea. For Munirpa, 48, that fear turned into a brutal reality when she became one of nearly 180 recorded crocodile attack victims in Indonesia last year. Residents like her are learning to coexist with the crocodiles, a legally protected species in Indonesia, as they balance conservation with looking out for their safety. But as attacks rise, several residents and experts have called for better government interventions to stop the problem from getting even worse.

Following the attack, Munirpa was hospitalized for a month and has had two surgeries. By February this year, her fear was still clearly visible, as were the scars on her legs and thighs.

“I am so scared. I don’t want to go to the beach. Even to the back of the house, I don’t dare to go," said Munirpa. “I am traumatized. I asked my children not to go to the river, or to the backyard, or go fishing."

In the villages surrounding the Budong-Budong River, like Munirpa's, crocodiles have become a daily topic of conversation. Their presence has become so common that warning signs now mark the areas where they lurk, from the river mouth to the waterways which were once a popular swimming spot for children.

In 2024, there were 179 crocodile attacks in Indonesia, the highest number of crocodile attacks in the world, with 92 fatalities, according to CrocAttack, an independent database. Social media videos showing crocodile appearances and attacks in Sulawesi and other regions in Indonesia are also on the rise.

The increase in attacks began about 12 years ago with the rise of palm oil plantations around the river mouth, said 39-year-old crocodile handler Rusli Paraili. Some companies carved artificial waterways, linking them to the larger part of the Budong-Budong River. That was when the crocodiles started straying, leaving the river and creeping to nearby residential areas, such as fish and shrimp ponds, he explained.

Palm oil plantations now dominate the landscape in West Sulawesi, from the mountains to the coast, and patrolling for crocodiles has become part of people's daily routine. When residents check the water pumps in their ponds, they have no choice but to keep out an eye for the beasts — flashlights in hand, scouring up, down and across canals and waterways — resigned to the uneasy reality of sharing their home with a predator.

The saltwater crocodile has been a legally protected species in Indonesia since 1999, making it an animal that cannot be hunted freely. As a top predator, there is also no population control in nature.

Paraili, the crocodile handler, said that while the law protects crocodiles from being killed, the rise in attacks is a major concern. In response, he's taken care of some of the crocs in a specially-designed farm away from human populations. He's received some financial support from the government and community donations, as well as support from palm oil companies for the last five years.

The farm has four ponds and around 50 reptiles. Some have names: Tanker, the largest, shaped like a ship, or Karossa, named after the sub-district the animal was caught after fatally attacking someone.

When funds run low, he uses his own money to ensure they’re fed, at least once every four days.

Amir Hamidy, who studies reptiles at the National Research and Innovation Agency, worries the rise in attacks indicates that crocodile numbers are becoming far too dangerous. Hamidy supports better population control.

Being a protected species “does not necessarily mean that the population cannot be reduced when it is at a level that is indeed unsafe," he said.

Around a year ago in Tumbu village, Suardi, who goes by one name, was harvesting coconuts when they fell into the river. When he went to retrieve them, he was attacked by a crocodile he initially didn't notice. He's since made a full recovery.

Still, the experience has made him more cautious. “Yes, I am worried. But what else can we do," Suardi said. “The important thing is that we are careful enough.”

Along with Munirpa, Suardi is one of 10 people in the region who was attacked by a crocodile last year. Three of those attacked were killed.

Suyuti Marzuki, who's head of West Sulawesi Marine and Fisheries Agency, said the crocodile habitat shift is making people's everyday activities — like harvesting coconuts, fishing or even disposing of garbage like Munirpa — very risky.

Marzuki said the government is looking at possible options that can provide both safety and economic alternatives for residents.

While he acknowledged that crocodile population numbers and ecosystems need to be protected, Marzuki also raised the possibility of bolstering the local economy through the crocodile skin trade. That industry is controversial because of conservation and animal welfare issues.

Paraili, the crocodile handler, also urged serious government interventions.

"This is a matter of human lives. So when the government is not serious, then our brothers and sisters in the future — in 5 or 15 years — there will be even more who will die from being attacked by crocodiles,” he said.

Residents like Munirpa and Suardi are waiting for more immediate and realistic steps from the authorities to ensure their community's and families' safety.

“It is enough that I've been bitten by a crocodile," Munirpa said. “I won’t let it happen to my children.”

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Suardi, a crocodile attack survivor, shows the scars on his face in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A fisher walks in the water after setting up a fishing net near a beach in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A man walks in the water as he pulls his boat to the riverbank in Budong-Budong, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A crocodile nicknamed Karossa, after the name of a village it was captured from following the fatal attack of a man, rests with others inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Suardi, a crocodile attack survivor, shows a scar on his chest in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Suardi, a crocodile attack survivor, shows the scars on his face in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Rusli Paraili, a crocodile handler, sits on the bow of a boat while looking for crocodiles on a river in Budong-Budong, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Sudirman, left, and Irfan stand among the coconut trees as they inspect their fish and shrimp ponds in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Sudirman, front, and Irfan walk on a makeshift bridge as they inspect their fish and shrimp ponds in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A man sits on his motorbike as a newly opened palm oil plantation with its canals are visible in the background in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

People play cards in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A canal dug for a newly opened palm oil plantation is visible in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A cow jumps over the water near a stream where a crocodile attack occurred several months prior, in Topoyo, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Crocodiles, mostly rescued after encounters with people, swim inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Crocodile hatchlings are seen in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Rusli Paraili, left, a crocodile handler, feeds a rescued crocodile inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Rusli Paraili, a crocodile handler, feeds rescued crocodiles kept inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A crocodile warning sign is displayed by the river in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. The sign reads "Beware of crocodile! Please be on alert while doing activities in the river. Crocodile might be stalking". (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Munirpa, a crocodile attack survivor, stands for a portrait at the location where she was nearly killed by a four-meter-long crocodile, in Topoyo, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Rusli Paraili, a crocodile handler, feeds a rescued crocodile kept inside an enclosure in Budong-Budong, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Because he is a billionaire, the chairman of the Texas Tech board of regents and the school's No. 1 superfan, the easiest route for Cody Campbell would be to keep pumping money into his school’s sports programs and let the chips fall where they may.

“For Texas Tech, the best thing that could happen is the whole thing continues to be chaotic,” he said.

But Campbell, an oilman by trade and a problem solver at heart, has a distinct vision of where college sports is and where it needs to go if it is going to survive past, say, 2030.

In an interview with The Associated Press in advance of Tech's College Football Playoff game against Oregon, Campbell argued that Congress needs to create a new entity that can oversee college sports. Its main focus? Maximizing revenue.

“We have professionalized the cost side of college sports," he said. “But we’re still running this amateur revenue-generation program.”

The idea of creating a new agency is among the talking points that thrust Campbell into the national conversation about how to run an industry that now pays players millions but also risks bankrupting athletic departments and destroying the smaller sports that are bankrolled by football and basketball.

In a series of TV ads aired during college football games (that some networks briefly declined to air), Campbell pushed for Congress to rewrite the 64-year-old law that prevents college conferences from pooling their TV rights to sell them as one unit, the way leagues like the NFL and NBA do.

He believes there is an extra $7 billion per year to be had by a smarter TV structure. In the interview with AP, he suggested the solution is more complex than simply changing the law, tearing up the current deals and starting over.

“Congress needs to set up a system of governance that empowers them to make commercial decisions so they can maximize their value," Campbell said of college leadership.

He sees an entity with not one commissioner, but a handful, all of whom run their individual sports and make their own decisions about media rights.

A man who disdains the status quo and those who uphold it — think conference commissioners, some athletic directors and school presidents — Campbell disputes the idea that his vision will pull power from all those people. By putting more money in their pockets, he explains, everyone will be stronger.

The SEC's Greg Sankey has argued Campbell's views “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics.”

Campbell’s response to commissioners and others who criticize him: “I would say, ‘How many private equity deals have you done?’ I've done a dozen or more. ‘How many times have you issued a public bond or financed a multimillion-dollar project?’ I've done it quite a lot. Did you actually play major college football?”

Campbell, who grew up in the West Texas town of Canyon, was an all-conference offensive lineman for the Red Raiders in the early 2000s who spent 2005 with the Indianapolis Colts.

He made his money through a combination of real estate and oil deals. According to ESPN, he and his partner, John Sellers, have sold four iterations of their company, Double Eagle Energy, for a total of around $13 billion.

The money has allowed Campbell to almost singlehandedly shift the fortunes of Texas Tech athletics. He donated $25 million to help rebuild Texas Tech's football stadium. He fronts The Matador Club, the collective that took advantage of loose regulation in the start-up days of NIL to reportedly funnel more than $60 million to Texas Tech players since 2022.

“I know some of the commissioners have not necessarily agreed with them and don’t think he sees the big picture," said Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire. "But when you're in the room, you'll understand. He's smarter than you.”

It wasn't so much the money, but the experience he gained in raising the money that Campbell believes makes him suited to help shape college sports.

For instance, he sees a role for private investment — the likes of which are capturing headlines in the Big Ten, Big 12, University of Utah and elsewhere — as a bridge to a day when conferences maximize their media rights. It is not, he says, a permanent solution, especially the way the conferences are going about it.

“It's basically just a payday loan, the way these things are being structured,” Campbell said. “They don't really solve the fundamental problem.”

Campbell casts himself as a supporter of the SCORE Act, legislation seeking to regulate college sports that has languished in Congress for a year. even though he disagrees with its key points and sees it more as a launching point than a final product.

“I don't think that many people who’ve been following sports for an amount of time think the NCAA is the right entity to be given a huge amount of additional power to override state law and be exempt from any kind of lawsuits,” he said, singling out two key elements proposed by the bill.

He figures a new entity might be able to build that trust and says he pushes this agenda not to benefit Texas Tech — all Texas schools have big boosters who can write big checks under any rulebook, he says — but because of what college, and college sports, did for him.

Piggybacking on the reality that football and basketball fund everything in college sports, Campbell sees TV as the best way to save everything.

He says tapping into that additional $7 billion a year will bankroll women's and Olympic sports, which have become increasingly vulnerable as attention and resources head toward football.

A reliable Republican fundraiser, Campbell says he is aligned with President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order called “Saving College Sports," part of which calls for protecting and expanding women's and non-revenue sports.

Yet Campbell sees no conflict with the fact that the reworking of the TV deal aligns more closely with a bill proposed by a Democrat. Rewriting the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act was the headliner in legislation proposed by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

“I know he's supportive in general of two things,” Cantwell said in an earlier interview with AP. “One is making sure the top two (conferences) don't run away with all the money. And secondly, I think he sees this as a way to even out the resources across all schools so we can still have ‘Any Given Saturday.’"

Campbell said he is a realist. He knows Congress works slowly and doesn't always have sports on its mind. His faith in finding a solution isn't diminished by that, however. He cited internal polling that showed more than 85% of Americans “want to see women's sports and Olympic sports preserved.”

“And 85% of Americans don't agree on anything,” he said. “The reality is, if we don't make some reforms and we're not careful, those sports are going to go away."

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FILE - Cody Campbell walks on the field before a NCAA college football game between Texas Tech and Oregon State, Sept. 13, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice, File)