Logging, mining driving crocs closer to humans, says Agusan bishop

For a Catholic bishop in Butuan City, the unbridled logging and mining in the Agusan provinces are what are driving crocodiles out of their natural habitat and bringing them into closer contact with humans.

Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, who oversees parishes in Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte, suggested that logging and mining in the province be halted to provide a long-term solution to the threat of crocodiles attacking people.

Last week, professional hunters captured in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, a 6.4-meter crocodile—later named “Lolong”—that had eaten a carabao and was believed to have attacked a farmer and a 12-year-old girl.

In previous years, the government stopped local residents from making a living from the crocodiles, according to Pueblos.

They were given livelihoods instead, he recalled. “No one was touching them. But now, people are cutting trees there, disturbing their habitat. So now they go out of the places where they are,” Pueblos told reporters on the sidelines of a Catholic Media Network forum.

He said the expected surge in illegal mining in the country due to the rising price of gold could also aggravate the situation.

Environment officials on Monday said they were expecting a spike in gold mining, particularly in Compostela Valley, the Agusan provinces, Masbate, Cagayan Valley and Nueva Vizcaya.