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An Indonesian fisherman claims to have shared a friendship with a
four-meter-long saltwater crocodile for over 20 years and calls the
reptile part of the local community.
59-year-old Ambo, a fisherman from Bontang City, in Indonesia’s East
Kalimantan, has become somewhat of a celebrity in his country because of
his unusual friendship with a giant saltwater crocodile named Rizka. The
giant reptile has been a constant part of Ambo’s life for the past 26
years, ever since he first laid eyes on her in the waters of Pupuk
Kaltim. She was only about one meter in size back then, and he didn’t
pay much attention to her as she swam past his boat, but when he noticed
that she had followed him home, Ambo grabbed some food and tossed it in
the water. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship spanning 26
years and who knows how many more going forward.
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“I first ran into Rizka when I was on a boat passing through the waters
of the Pupuk Kaltim area 23 years ago,” Ambo told Kompas back in 2020.
“She was then only about a meter long, so I ignored her as I made my way
home. [But] I noticed that [Rizka] followed the vessel home. I even saw
her next to the boat, which I also named Rizka. I called her over to
give her something to eat, and she came around. She has since been doing
that.”
“If I don’t see her for two or three days, I go looking for her,” Ambo
added. “I treat her as my own child.”
Over the years, these two unlikely friends became really close. Rizka
often floats near Ambo’s boat when she sees him, and doesn’t go away
until he strokes her back for a while. She also visits his home whenever
she is hungry, and he is more than happy to throw her something to eat.
“I usually give Rizka three chickens. Once she has been fed, she swims
away,” Ambo said. “When I leave the village, I’ve to tell my neighbors
to feed Rizka while I’m gone. I had to get neighbors to look after Rizka
after my wife told me once that the croc came around when I was away.”
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When Ambo was away for about two years, working in the provincial
capital Samarinda, he asked local fishermen to take care of Rizka for
him, and they would throw the crocodile some of them catch when they saw
her. Since then, Rizka has become part of the community, and people see
her as their guardian.
Ambo claims to love Rizka as if she were his child, and although he
admits that he still fears scared sitting so close to a four-meter-long
crocodile that could literally swallow him whole, he is willing to put
his life on the line in the name of their friendship.
“Sure the fear is there, but my ancestors believed that one can bond
with crocodiles and other animals as if we have familial relations with
them,” the fisherman said.
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