Bako National Park, the oldest in the Sarawak region covers an area of 27.27 square kilometres (10.53 sq mi) at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula and at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching Rivers., is the most popular with foreign tourists. The presence of numerous crocodiles at Bako National Park makes the destination popular amongst the tourist across the globe.

The rivers are infested with crocodiles far and wide. With many incidents in the past Bako has been the source of highlight many a time but according to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the national park does not pose any danger to humans, unless they are nesting or protecting their eggs.

Although, humans have never been attacked by the crocodiles at the park, the park takes extra precaution in order to avoid any such situation in the near future. According to Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, he thinks crocodiles can never be a source of threat to the humans because the worst predators are humans itself. Karim prefers the reptiles to live on their own in their natural habitat rather than kept in captivity which should be done in general.

He told reporters after attending a townhall session with tourism industry players “You see the dangers are not from the crocodiles. The worst predators are human beings,”

“So far, there is no problem in the national park between the crocodiles and human beings.”

Karim also said many foreign tourists who come to visit Sarawak wish to see crocodiles in their natural park and on recalling an incident from last week he said “Just last week, tourists from Latin America were asking me where they can watch the reptiles and I should have suggested that they go to Bako National Park,” he said.

Also the main concern for people falling into the area and zone of crocodiles are the ferry and boat that takes people to the other part of the park. Karim wanted boat operators to comply with the safety regulations while travelling from the Kampung Bako terminal to the national park.

In the townhall session one of the main queries was overloading the boats by the boat operators. He said overloading of boat with passengers was one of the issues raised at the townhall session. He said so far, no boat that ferries passengers to the park has ever capsized.

He said, “But we can’t wait for the mishap to occur before we take action,” stating that his ministry may take over from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to protect the safety of tourists going to Bako.