Sandakan Crocodile Farm

The 3 Crocodiles Farms in East Malaysia we visited
1	25th January 1998 Sunday	Jong's Crocodile Farm, Kuching City, Sarawak
2	16th March 2009 Monday	Tuaran Crocodile Farm, Tuaran, Sabah
3	1st June 2013 Saturday 26th January 2001 Friday	Sandakan Crocodile Farm, Sandakan, Sabah

Sandakan Crocodile Farm, this is our family second visit to this old place. The first visit in 2001 Yin was not born yet. This visit in 2013 Shirley did not follow.

There is no significant changes in the farm for the last 12 years. No expansion in scale, same variety of species and other animals since my last visit in 2001.

Crocodile feeding time has no excitement. The one we saw in Kuching in 1998 was more exciting with the dead chicken hanging above the water while the crocodiles leap out of the water surface to snap off the chicken.

The entrance fee is RM8.00 per adult

Upon entering the farm, we were walking on a wooden pavement built on a structure suspended approx. 2m from the ground, and they are hundred of crocodiles beneath us. The ground, perhaps more appropriate speaking, a huge cemented depression to contain the crocs. We were told to walk gently on the wooden path so that we would not agitate them. Most crocs are either well or over fed and lack of exercise, they can hardly crow. Phew! Knowing this makes my heartbeats go back to normal.

There are some smaller cages contain individual crocs which are either physically deformed or have special history. One of them is the largest croc in the farm, with a name tag on the cage: “My name is so and so, and I used to live along Kinabatangan river. I have eaten 4 rangers, being captured and sent here for re-education. Now I am eating one chicken a day as part of my learning process.” This croc is HUGE – 700kg and 18 ft.

Besides the crocs, they are other fishes such as Lo Hon, Lei, cat fish and the giant Arazonia from Amazona River. My favorite animal in the farm is the longest Giant Arazonia, about 2+m in length, she was gracefully swimming round and round in the pond.

It is just 15 minutes drive from Sepilok orangutan sanctuary. They have show performances of the crocodile at 11.00 a.m. They don't only have crocodiles but also snakes, fishes and birds. Children would enjoy feeding the koi fish or carp. Aside from koi, is the ikan keli or cat fish.

It was estimated about 100 crocodiles in this Sandakan Crocodile Farm. This is a great difference with the number 3,000 crocodiles as commonly advertised in tourist information brouchers. Even the owner's 3 crocodiles farms in Malaysia all totaled up together may add up to less then 3,000 living crocodiles. (Unless including those already skinned and made into shoes and lad handbags)

And Sandakan Crocodile Farm is not Malaysia's largest crocodile farm. The new Tuaran Crocodile Farm is twice the size of this Sandakan Farm.

The original batch of crocodiles came from wild crocodiles found along the Kinabatangan River just 2 hours drive from here.

In this farm, these reptiles are farmed for their strong skins to be turned into expensive shoes and bags.

Sandakan Crocodile Farm. The crocodile show here involved three men poking some crocodiles with sticks and dragging them around the arena by their tails. The pens that the crocodiles and other animals lived in were tiny and not very pleasant. Also, after paying the higher non-malaysian entrance fee, the commentary to the whole show was given in Malay. Not recommended.

Sandakan War Memorial Park was our final stop of the day - built on the site of the old Japanese prisoner of war camp. It was from here that the 2500 British and Australian prisoners of war were marched to Ranau. None survived the death marches. Only six escapees survived the war to tell the tale of the horrors of being prisoners of the Japanese on Borneo.

Besides offering visitors an up-close look at Sabah's biggest reptiles, the farm hosts several other attractions as well, including crocodile and snake shows. It also features a mini zoo with a 100kg Amazonian fish, and a children's park.

With the success of this first Crocodile farm in Sandakan , the owner expand his enterprise to two more similar farm Langkawi Island and Tuaran Town.

Crocodile meat and oil

I remember in 1993 in Hong Kong, Lawrence invited few of us for dinner in a restaurant during which he ordered "Crocodile Meat Soup". That was the first time I learned of Crocodile meat is medical to asthma.

The Chinese believed that crocodile meat and oil have some health benefit to cure cough and asthma. Crocodile oil meanwhile was used to relieve rheumatism, mosquito bites and in burns and scalding when gently rub on the affected area.

There is a traditional treatment handled down from my mother to treat skin burns by using animal oil including Crocodile, Monitor Lizard and snake. When slaughtering these reptiles their fat were preciously kept aside. After washing in clean water, the fresh animal fat is staff kept inside a big grass bottle and put under the sun. After a few months of heat under the sun, the fat would malt into liquid oil. The oil then transfer into several small bottles to be store and give to friends and relatives when ever they need. These animal oil effectively stop the pain of skin burn. But the oil is pungent in smell. Today, we simply buy from pharmacy store a tube of antiseptic cream to serve the same purpose. But in the last century, when medical and material things were scare, this traditional treatment has relief generation and generation of painful people.

To get up close and personal with these fascinating creatures, come and visit Sandakan Crocodile Farm. Besides being a place for crocodile farming to supply crocodile’s skin and meat, this farm also, have lots of crocodiles from different species on display for crocodile lovers during their visit here during their Sabah vacation. There is also a crocodile show with a daring and heart-stopping stunt held twice per day.

Getting There
The drive from Sandakan to the farm takes about half an hour.

Visiting Hours
Weekday show times (Crocodiles only) - 11.45am & 4.00pm
Sunday and Public Hols show times (Crocodiles and snakes) - 11.45am, 2.00pm & 4.00pm
Daily feeding times - from 9.30am onwards until 4.30pm

Admission Fees

MyCard Holder
Adults RM7.00
Children below 12 years RM4.00

Non-MyCard Holder
Adults RM10.00
Children below 12 years RM5.00

Address
P O Box 633, 90007 Sandakan Sabah

Sandakan Crocodile Farm,
Mile 8, Jalan Labuk
Tel : 6 089 660666 (Farm), 6 089 211391, 6 089 217637 (Office)
Fax : 6 089 71448
The Sandakan Crocodile Farm, located 12 km (half an hour overland drive) from Sandakan town, is Malaysia's largest with over 3000 of the reptiles in concrete pools. The crocodiles in this farm came originally in the wild found along the Kinabatangan River. Besides offering visitors an up-close look at Sabah's biggest reptiles, the farm hosts several other attractions as well, including crocodile and snake shows. It also features a mini zoo with a 100kg Amazonian fish, and a children's park.

Crocodiles are farmed for their skins as crocodile leather can be made into goods such as wallets, briefcases, purses, handbags, belts, hats, and shoes.

Visiting Hours

Weekday show times (Crocodiles only)
: 11.45am & 4.00pm

Sunday and Public Holidays show times (Crocodiles and snakes)
: 1.45am, 2.00pm & 4.00pm

Daily feeding times
: From 9.30am onwards until 4.30pm

this place which is among place of interests in Sandakan.

The first step before the show started was to moist the surface of the floor with water.

SANDAKAN: Sandakan which is well known as the gateway to Sabah’s eco-tourism has many places of interests and one of them is the Sandakan Crocodile Farm, the country’s largest with over 3,000 reptiles.

Located at Mile 7 1⁄2 Jalan Labuk, it takes about 30 minutes’ drive to get there from town centre. The original stock at the farm was from wild crocodiles found along the longest river in Sabah, the Kinabatangan River.

Apart from getting an up close look at Sabah’s biggest reptiles, visitors can also view several other attractions hosted by the farm including crocodile and snake shows. The Sandakan Crocodile Farm also features a mini zoo and a children’s park.

For those planning on going to the farm, they should take note of the visiting hours. The farm opens daily from 8am to 5.30pm with feeding time from 9.30am onwards until 4.30pm.

The weekday Crocodile show is held twice a day at 11.45am and 4pm while the Crocodile and Snake show comes on at 11.45am, 2pm and 4pm on Sundays and public holidays. Admission is RM5 for adult and RM3 for children below 12.

The reptiles at the Sandakan Crocodile Farm are also farmed for their skins for making shoes and bags while the Chinese community believes their meat is good remedy for cough and asthma.

The best time to visit these cold-blooded reptiles is during their feeding time as the normally motionless crocodile will suddenly become very aggressive as they compete with their mates to grab the meat thrown to them.