Bunawan building second pool for bigger crocodile

BUNAWAN, Agusan del Sur, Philippines—The local government here is rushing the construction of a second pool inside the Bunawan Eco-park in anticipation of  the capture of another crocodile believed to be larger than Lolong, a 21-foot-long crocodile weighing more than a ton that was captured last month.

Felix Olivares, the municipal government’s information officer, told the Inquirer the second pool would also be much bigger than the one occupied by Lolong in the same compound.

The second pool is being built several meters away from where Lolong is, Olivares said.  He could not provide the pool’s dimensions, however. Lolong’s pool measures 14 x 21 meters.

Mayor Edwin Elorde said he was among those who saw the larger crocodile during the hunt for Lolong.

“There is another crocodile and I can say that it was much bigger,” Elorde said.

One of the crocodile experts who joined the hunt for Lolong corroborated Elorde’s account.

Desideria Balladares, a local resident, said that before her brother Daniel Auxtero went missing in June, she also saw a large crocodile lurking near her home, which is beside a river that traverses many villages of this municipality of  37,000 people.

“Its head was almost twice larger than Lolong’s and its back has bumps as huge as coconut shells, unlike Lolong’s which are small,” Balladares said in describing the other reptile.

Olivares said local officials believe the account of people claiming to have seen a crocodile larger than Lolong, which weighs 1,075 kilos and was caught on September  3.

“Of course this will not be built here if there is no second crocodile, which we were hoping to catch,” he said.

Olivares said he was not certain when the hunt for the second crocodile would start.

Meanwhile, Elorde said the town’s council has banned fishing, fetching of water from rivers and even crossing waterways from 4 p.m. until 8 a.m. to protect residents from attack  by crocodiles.

“It is known that they hunt for food during night time,” he said.