Crocodile farm proves big tourist hit in Medan

By Apriadi Gunawan

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Looking for something really scary in town? The Taman Buaya (crocodile farm) Asam Kumbang could well be what you are after.

For those who have been here before, the most eagerly awaited attraction is the one in which a monkey snatches food from a crocodile's jaw. The 20-minute show is presented by farm owner Lo Tham Muk.

What the show lacks in length, it makes up for in excitement.

"I came here to see the crocodiles. We don't have a crocodile farm in Hong Kong," said Lam Lin Ling, 27, from Hong Kong who was visiting Medan with four relatives.

Tham Muk, 73, began his crocodile farm in 1959 when somebody offered him 12 baby crocks, each about 30 centimeters in length. He did not have the heart to refuse the animals.

"I gave him some money just to buy cigarette as a token of gratitude," Tham Muk recalled, adding he was still only 30 and unmarried then.

Having no experience in breeding crocodiles, Tham Muk put the small crocodiles in a large washbasin, and then moved them to a pool in the yard when they grew bigger. Every day he served up two ounces of prawns to each of the crocodiles. After 10 years, he had to find a larger home for his big reptiles -- so he built a pool on a 400-meter plot of land on Jl. Gurame.

In the course of time, the animals not only grew bigger but also proliferated. In 1974, he decided to move them to the present Asam Kumbang village where he built a 5,000 square meter crocodile farm. When the farm grew too small to accommodate them, he expanded it to 20,000 square meters.

The crocodiles are all bred from two Sumatran species, crocodylus porosus (locally called buaya muara) and tomistona sehlegeli (buaya sinyulung).

The crocodiles are housed in concrete pools of between one and four meters in depth. They are fed with dead chickens that Tham Muk buys from his neighbors.

Impressed by the success of the venture, the North Sumatra provincial tourist office asked Tham Muk to open his farm to the public in 1983 when the crocodiles already numbered some 1,000. Until then, Tham Muk had refused to do so on the grounds that he could not guarantee the safety of visitors.

As the farm grew to be a popular recreation spot, Tham Muk joined hands with the Medan municipal government, which agreed to renovate the complex and upgrade the access roads.

Taman Buaya Asam Kumbang is about 10 kilometers west of Polonia airport. The entrance charge is Rp 3,000 for adults and Rp 1,500 for children.

On holidays, visitor numbers can reach up to 400, but on work days only between 20 and 30 people visit the farm.

The economic crisis has had a major impact on the farm since 1998. The low number of visitors, especially foreign tourists, has hit its finances hard.

"The farm relies on the visitors to survive. Now the income from the visitors is not enough to feed the animals," he said. Assistance from the government and donors has not been sufficient either.

The budget keeps ballooning as the animals keep multiplying. Now, their number has reached 2,400. About Rp 500,000 a day is needed to buy a ton of chicken. The inadequate budget has been blamed for the deaths of a number of crocodiles.

Thanks to his dedication to crocodile breeding, Tham Muk has won numerous awards. He received his first award in 1984 from the North Sumatra provincial government naming him best conservationist. One of his most prestigious awards is the one he received from the Association of Indonesian Zoos in 1986.

S. Is Sihotang, chief of the North Sumatra provincial government, said the government was concerned about the condition of the crocodile farm.

"The government really wants to help it but we're too broke at the moment to offer any assistance," he said.

The office had planned to include the farm on a government- arranged tour package to Medan.

"So far it has not been included in the package because it is privately-owned. We have helped with its promotion only," Sihotang said.