“They look like dinosaurs!” I screamed, gaping at live crocodiles for the first time with my brother, Jaypee. This was Manila Zoo in the 1990s and to pint-sized kids, 14-foot crocodiles seemed giant, ancient and utterly invincible.
Local officials here are bent on declaring “Lolong,” the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity that died Sunday night, as its hero through an ordinance that the Sangguniang Bayan has agreed to pass.
The plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to transfer “Lolong” the giant crocodile to the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City was met with opposition from the mayor of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur.
The mayor of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, said Saturday he would vigorously oppose a plan by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to transfer Lolong, the world’s largest crocodile in captivity, to the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City.
Those better not be crocodile tears. “I’m so attached to Lolong. I spend most of my time with the crocodile. I consider him my son now.”
Animal rights activists urged the authorities on Saturday to return a captured giant crocodile back to the wild, but the mayor of the town where it was caught refused, saying it posed a threat to local residents.
After capturing a one-ton crocodile that could be one of the biggest caught alive in the world, officials said Tuesday that they were hunting for an even bigger beast that may be lurking in the creeks of a remote southern Philippine region.
