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5 more added to Isabela’s crocodile population

BY CHARLIE C. LAGASCA

ILAGAN, Isabela – Five more juvenile crocodiles reared at a breeding station in the province for years were released to the wild last week, bringing the total Philippine crocodile population here to 45 individuals compared to only 12 in 1999.

The Crocodile Rehabilitation Observance and Conservation (CROC) project of the Mabuwaya Foundation yesterday (05 April) said that the crocodiles (Crocodylus mindorensi) that were released to the wilds of San Mariano town here were considered to be the most threatened species of crocodile endemic to Northern Luzon.

Gov. Grace Padaca, board member Anna Cristina Go and San Mariano town councilor Jerome Miranda led other local and Foundation officials as well as representatives from the Conservation International and Isabela State University in the release of the crocodiles to the Sierra Madre’s Dunoy and Narra Lakes , where a number of crocodiles had been released over the past years.

Samuel Telan of the Mabuwaya Foundation said that the crocodiles were raised for years at San Mariano’s Municipal Philippine Crocodile Rearing Station before they were physically capable to be released to the wild and would be able to find mates from the earlier released batches.

Thriving only in freshwater habitat such as rivers, swamps and lakes, the Philippine crocodile, which almost became extinct as a result of massive logging during the 1960s to 1980s, is said to be the most severely threatened crocodile species on the planet due to commercial hunting, destructive fishing and decreasing habitat.

“The Philippine crocodile has been classified in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species as critically endangered,” Telan said.

The establishment of the crocodile station, he said, was the result of a tie-up between the provincial government, the San Mariano town government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mabuwaya Foundation.

The Foundation operates under the umbrella of the Cagayan Valley Program on Environment and Development, whose creation was a result of an academic partnership between the Isabela State University and Leiden University in the Netherlands .

One of two species in the country, the crocodile here is a relatively small crocodilian, which does not pose any direct threat to humans.

The other species, Crocodylus porosus, which is much larger, occurs in mangrove areas and is potentially dangerous to humans. It is also found in other countries like Australia, Indonesia and India.

BACK TO THE WILD. One of the five young Philippine crocodiles released to the wild of Isabela last week. The crocodile species has been classified in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species as critically endangered. PHOTO COURTESY OF MERLIJN VAN WEERD OF MABUWAYA FOUNDATION

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