Something to croc about
February 16, 2003 | 12:00am
What on earth is the life-size flesh-on-bone replica of the world-famous SuperCroc doing here in the Philippines? After all, how many people can really appreciate the fact that of the 23 species of crocodiles in the world two are found in the Philippines: the Philippine Crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis ), which is considered "critically threatened," and the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Are these two crocs similar to the ones in Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones films? When will the country’s filmmakers produce a movie similar to Crocodile Dundee? Why is it that the Crocodile Farm in Palawan is not a world-famous tourist destination? What ever happened to the giant crocodile discovered in Laguna de Bay over a century ago, did it end up in a Western museum? What Philippine species of crocodile was referred to in a myth about that creature scaring a Chinese trader and prompting him to call on a Catholic saint for help?
When FedEx Express country manager Samuel David recently told Philippine STAR that there are two species of crocodiles in the Philippines, he laughed when this writer commented that there is a third species of Philippine crocodiles or buwayas that continue to be ferociously active and thick-skinned among many so-called honorable leaders in politics, in the bureaucracy, and among officers in uniform or wearing robes. Where did the phrase "crocodile tears" come from – perhaps it was inspired by the grandstanding antics of our Philippine-style buwayas and their hypocrisy?
Today, the croc is here in the country for free public exhibition by National Geographic from Feb. 12 to 24 at Carousel Court Level 2 of Festival Supermall, Filinvest City in Alabang. The SuperCroc Exhibit has been transported and sponsored by FedEx to Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Bangkok. The SuperCroc has been drawing crowds of people, especially amazed kids who marvel at the giant crocodile which is the size of a huge bus and which when it was living 110 million years ago and used to eat dinosaurs. The SuperCroc of ancient times grew to a length of 12 meters, weighed more than 10 times that of any living crocodile today, according to estimates by paleontologists.
How big were the dinosaurs that SuperCroc used to eat for lunch and dinner? Xavier School students Matthew and John So earlier suggested to this writer that this column discuss dinosaurs, offering the information that the largest creature believed to have ever walked the earth was the dinosaur Sauroposeidon with fossils discovered in Oklahoma, USA in 1994. The two grade school students said this dinosaur stood 18.28 (60 feet) tall, weighed 60 tons (132,277 pounds) and had the longest neck with vertebrae up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) long. This dinosaur was similar to a giraffe, but 30 times bigger than the largest giraffe, or equivalent to a six-storey building. It lived 110 million years ago, coincidentally the same period as that of the dinosaur-eating Super Croc! These students added that the smallest dinosaur was the chicken-sized Compsognathus of south Germany and southeastern France, with two specimens discovered since 1859. It measured 60 centimeters (23 inches) from the snout to the tip of the tail and weighed about three kilos (six pounds and eight ounces). The students said the world’s most expensive dinosaur skeleton was that of the Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in South Dakota, USA in 1990 and purchased for US$8.36 million by the Fields Museum of Chicago City in 1997. The female dinosaur skeleton is four meters (13 feet) tall and 12.5 meters (41 feet) long.
This SuperCroc exhibit is a prelude to the SuperCroc television event on March 4 at 7 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel, one of the few educational and high-quality cable TV channels which redeems television from its often negative reputation as an idiot box. Also every Monday in Feb. at 9 p.m. and then at 9:30 p.m. in March is the Croc Chronicles with National Geographic’s resident herpetologist Dr. Brady Barr.
Executives of FedEx told Philippine STAR that the SuperCroc Exhibit is not the only huge creatures the firm has flown in recent years. In the last four years alone, FedEx had flown the world’s cutest animals live like pandas from Sichuan province of China to the National Zoo in Washington, DC and killer whales also from China for the Subic Bay Freeport. FedEx Express is a US$15 billion subsidiary of FedEx Corp. This world’s largest express transport firm has 144,000 employes and has over 45,000 drop-off locations, 640 aircrafts and more than 45,000 vehicles worldwide.
National Geographic is well known for its magazine, and its cable TV channel in Asia, which is now distributed to over 32 million homes and over 50 million day-part cable homes in the region. This TV channel contributes to the National Geographic Society’s commitment to exploration, conservation and education.
Because of the inane and self-absorbed politics many of the leaders in this so-called strong republic, not much has been accomplished for the conservation of the many unique flora, fauna and other natural wonders of the Philippines. A top Filipino businessman of the Makati Business Club told Philippine STAR that even the Philippine mining industry is almost dead due to excessive politics. What can be done to develop the vast untapped potentials of eco-tourism in Palawan, in the Bicol region, in the Tubbataha Reefs National Marine Park in the Sulu Sea, and other places among our 7,107 islands? Why not establish modern museums dedicated to the different natural wonders of the country such as the flowers and animals instead of wasting public funds on multi-billion centennial white elephants, or in naming over-budget highways, cockpits, waiting sheds and other infrastructures after so many dead politicians?
From the biggest Philippine eagle in Mount Apo to the tarsier of Bohol, the smallest mouse-deer, to the tiniest fishes, the best white-sand beaches in Boracay, the finest lumber, virgin forests and other natural wealth, the Philippines is a tropical paradise where the rich ecological and natural resources are being wasted by negligence, ignorance, selfish politics and avarice. Why can’t the many unreformed and unrepentant buwayas in Philippine politics do more to save the Philippine’s natural wealth?
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