A Southern Philippine town Bunawan mourns the largest captive crocodile. The world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity has died, sending villagers to tears in the backwater southern Philippine town that had started to draw tourists, revenue and development because of the immense reptile.The 1-ton crocodile was declared dead Sunday a few hours after flipping over with a bloated stomach in a pond in an eco-tourism park in Bunawan town.Lolong was founded dead at around 8 pm on February 10, 2013. The cause of death is still not known but experts have found that his left stomach is ballooned. The experts also related that the crocodile experienced stress due to the amount of people and or visitors in its surround.
He was an Indo-Pacific or Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) measured at 20 feet 3 inches (6.17 m), estimated at more than 50 years old, making him one of the largest crocodiles ever measured from snout-to-tail. In November of 2011, Australian crocodile expert Dr. Adam Britton of National Geographic sedated and measured Lolong in his enclosure and confirmed Lolong as the world's longest crocodile ever caught and placed in captivity. Officials of the town of Bunawan where the crocodile was captured said that experts from the National Geographic Channel found out that Lolong breaks the record of the previous record-holder: a 17 feet 11.75 inches (5.48 m) male saltwater crocodile named "Cassius" kept in the crocodile park of MarineLand Melanesia in Queensland, Australia. After six months from the visit of Australian zoologist and crocodile expert Dr. Adam Britton, Lolong was officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s biggest crocodile in captivity.”The certification was read in public during the celebration of Araw ng Bunawan.
The crocodile is named after Ernesto "Lolong" Goloran Cañete, a government environmental officer and one of the veteran crocodile hunters from the Palawan Crocodile and Wildlife Reservation Center who led the hunt. After weeks of stalking, the hunt for Lolong took its toll on Cañete's health. He died of a heart attack several days before the crocodile was captured.
Lolong was caught in a Bunawan creek in the province of Agusan del Sur in the Philippines on September 3, 2011. The rich bio-diversity of Agusan marsh, where it was captured, the vast complex of swamp forests, shallow lakes, lily-covered ponds and wetlands is home to wild ducks, herons, egrets and threatened species like the Philippine Hawk Eagle. He was captured with the joint cooperation of the local government unit, residents and crocodile hunters of Palawan. The giant crocodile was hunted over a period of three weeks, and, once he was found, it took around 100 people to bring him onto land. He became aggressive at several points during the capture, and twice broke restraining ropes before eventually being properly secured. He is estimated to be at least 50 years old.
Lolong was suspected of eating a farmer who went missing in the town of Bunawan, and also of consuming a 12-year-old girl whose head was discovered two years earlier. He was also the primary suspect in the disappearance of water buffaloes in the area. In the examination of the stomach contents after his capture, remnants of water buffaloes reported missing before Lolong's capture were found, but no human remains. Experts say the vast Agusan Marsh's tourism potential needs intensive study to avoid fatal human-crocodile encounters. The capture of Lolong is a good advantage in protecting him for survival, against danger he posed to the humans, an attraction and income for the locality, and an opportunity for scientific study.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) activist Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc., with the cooperation of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has urged the local government of Bunawan to return Lolong to the creek of barangay Nueva Era, where the giant reptile was captured. But, in an ongoing debate, Bunawan mayor Edwin “Cox” Elorde and residents of the barangay opposed the crocodile's release, arguing that he would threaten individuals living in the vicinity of the creek.
The giant crocodile was kept in an enclosure in the Bunawan Ecopark and Wildlife Reservation Center in Barangay Consuelo located 8 km out of town. The exhibit was opened to the public on September 17, 2011, after permission was received from the Palawan Wildlife and Conservation Center. The Bunawan Municipal Council recently passed an ordinance regulating and imposing fees on gate entrance, parking and other fees at the eco-park where the celebrity giant crocodile resided in captivity.
Although the eco-park has a twenty-peso entrance fee for adults and less for the children, these proceeds will be used for park maintenance and Lolong’s food.The Bunawan Eco-Park is also incurring expenses to maintain electricity, maintenance and other incidental expenses like installation of CCTV cameras. According to Bunawan town Mayor Edwin Elorde, as of October 26, 2011, the celebrity crocodile has already earned nearly half million pesos in donations, entrance fees, and parking fees, with a daily income of about 10,000 philippine peso (13,200 Indian Rupee) that month.
Bunawan Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde fought back tears as he recalled how the town took care of the crocodile not as a beast but like an "adopted son." "The whole town, in fact the whole province, is mourning," and "My phones kept ringing because people wanted to say how affected they are."-he added. Villagers planned to perform a tribal ritual, which involves butchering chicken and pigs as funeral offerings to thank forest spirits for the fame and other blessings the crocodile has brought.
Wildlife experts performed an autopsy on Monday to determine the cause of its death.
At last, In the language of Elorde- "I'd like people to see the crocodile that broke a world record and put our town on the map,"
With Regards,
Sri Bibhuprasad Mohapatra
Rayagada Head Post Office
Email-Padmacharan123@gmail.com
Mob-07735759405
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