Editorial - Tears for a crocodile

It took at least five decades, by reptile experts’ estimates, for “Lolong” to attain the girth that would make it the record holder as the world’s longest, largest crocodile in captivity.

It took only a year and a half for the crocodile to die in a pen. Although the containment area was supposedly built specially for Lolong in an eco-park and research center in the town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, where the giant crocodile quickly became the main attraction, the pen was still too small compared with its original habitat, the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, which covers 148.36 square kilometers – an area nearly the size of Quezon City.

The Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City had requested custody of Lolong. More visitors at the site, plus the park’s bigger resources, would have meant more funds to care for the famous reptile. Perhaps better emergency care after its stomach reportedly started bloating could have saved Lolong.

Animal rights activists have pointed out that even the best possible care in captivity would not have matched Lolong’s natural habitat in the Agusan Marsh, a protected area officially recognized as a Ramsar site or “Wetland of International Importance.” Bunawan local authorities, however, deemed it too risky for humans to have Lolong returned to its home following its capture on Sept. 3, 2011, shortly after fatal attacks on a child and a carabao. There is no certainty that Lolong was the culprit in the attacks.

After an autopsy, Lolong will reportedly be turned over to taxidermists. It may be better to put the reptile on display in Metro Manila or any site where it is accessible to the most number of people, if only to serve as a reminder that the nation’s wildlife sanctuaries – flora and fauna, including dangerous beasts, and the entire ecosystem – need better protection from human activities.