Lolong is a giant salt-water crocodile 21 ft. long and weighs about 1 ton. He was captured at the age of 50. Meaning he may be roaming the water since 1961.
Locals of Bunawan, Agusan Del Sur marshes confirmed sightings of this giant crocodile for a long time. Locals have been heard said that some are injured by various crocodile attacks. But when a beheaded corpse of a child has been found which was whole heatedly blamed on the giant crocodile of the marshes. Soon, a fisherman was found missing and the giant croc was soon blamed for this too after being sighted killing a water buffalo.
After 3 weeks of hunting, the giant crocodile was captured by 30 men on September 4, 2011 and was temporarily detained in Bunawan, Agusan Del Norte.
Lolong is named after Ernesto "Lolong" Coñate, a Palawan hunter who led the team tasked to catch the monster crocodile. Coñate died of a heart attack during the operation. As a tribute, the people all thought to name the giant croc after the man.
With a little research for myself, I found out that Lolong is now transferred to a Wildlife preserve in Agusan Del Sur. Despite the involvement of DENR on the matter, Lolong has shown but a little movement while in his new captivity but has refused to eat since capture.
Experts say that salt-water crocodiles are extremely territorial and that Lolong's poor response to his environment is because of this. Now, the giant crocodile faces a new threat as he may have suffered serious injuries in regards to the method of his capture and may detain his recovery by not eating.
In addition to this, he is stressed regarding all that has happened to him and so soon after his capture the gates are now opened for the public viewing of said crocodile.
Lolong is also suspected to have a mate or offspring of his own. Agusan locals still believe that another giant crocodile still roams the marshes and now, crocodile hunters have been coming in to town for the frenzy. Locals think it only right to rid them of the threat that are the salt-water crocodiles of the Agusan Marshes.
Animal rights activists think that Lolong may have responded to the overcrowding of its natural habitat. Bunawan, Agusan Del Norte is a poverty-striken town and a huge population of the people get a living out of the fishes caught on the marshes. Some have also gotten the habit of living on the water themselves. Experts believe that the wildlife crocs feel the decline on the supply of its natural prey so that it adapted to other sources of food in the area. The animals of the locals or if they can get them, the locals themselves.
I strongly believe that Lolong should be returned to his natural habitat and provide protection for him and his species. Salt-water crocodiles weren't meant to be kept in enclosures and be displayed for the public not knowing the effects it would give to Lolong. Above all, if the animal itself responds negatively to its capture, the opposite must be done in order to assist it in surviving longer and being there for the next generation to behold and cherish in the future.
For one thing, the institution to which he is detained is not qualified to meet Lolong's needs conducive to his natural habitat. He is used to eating live prey and that may be the reason he is not eating the food given to him on the wild life preserve. He may also be used to a big area to roam around and also deeper waters to submerged itself in it. Also, some may think that it misses its family. But Lolong cant be mixed with the other salt-water crocs on the preserve since the keepers still dont know the diseases he may carry from the Marshes.
The authorities of Bunawan are now waiting for the Guinness Book team to confirm that Lolong is the biggest salt-water crocodile caught alive in the whole world. The only known croc to rival Lolong is of "Cassius Clay," a brute named after the famed Afro-American heavy weight boxer, was caught in the wilds of Australia's Northern Territories in 1984.
Poor Lolong! :( How can humans be so evil and stupid? He deserves to go back to his home! Just looking at these images and new makes me sad about the way these poor animals are treated... :'(
ReplyDeleteWould you let a 20.3 feet long croc eat and feed around you? How could you expect people to live with him when i HIGHLY doubt you would go into the same enclose as he is in! So selfish, people are dieing because of him and others like him and your more worried about him being "home"
DeleteThat crocodile lived a long amazing life, endured his own trials and tribulations, was recorded as THE LARGEST of its species, and he was not living in humans space, humans were living in HIS space. Lets keep in kind HE was there first. Fuckin humans make me sick. Its people like you that are wiping out WILDLIFE around the whole planet. Maybe if you and everyone like you went extinct, there would be wonderful wildlife left to admire.
Deletei agree to that...lolong should be free.
ReplyDeleteYep, free in your back yard ...Do you like that idea?
Deletewe should protect them and preserve wild life.lolong should not be kept captive
ReplyDeletei agree with those previous comments, however, we should also protect lives... who knows in the near future lolong might eat or kill people, not just animals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment guys! Please read all other articles :D
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that this croc had to be taken out of the wild, the place he strived for so many years. Something we need to keep in mind: the crocs have been here much longer than we have. We are in their land, inhabiting their homes. I'm not an activist, but certainly a reptile lover. I live in Ohio. I know that if I go rooting around in the woods, I may encounter a Copperhead, or even a Timber rattlesnake. I am not going to let my daughter play in the dangerous areas. These people need an education. Clearly your children do not need to play in a swamp or an inlet where crocs are known to be. Seems reasonable to me. They're not breaking into peoples homes and killing children while they sleep.
ReplyDelete"Clearly your children do not need to play in a swamp or an inlet where crocs are known to be."
DeleteClearly you don't understand the world these people live in! They aren't letting their children play in the swamp, it's their only means of transporation to school! The one girl who was attacked and killed was on her way home from school with her friend on a small boat!
I agree. But being a third world country, we have few options to impose proper education especially in areas such as where Lolong was caught. So yeah, even if they are educated, the swamp is where some locals get their livelihood from. The inhabitants are overcrowding the swamp area . That made Lolong react to the suffocation and probably for the compromised food as he had to compete with the growing population of humans in the area.
ReplyDeletethe second pic was huge
ReplyDeleteany new news on the fate of this big croc ? alive and well or passed on ? either way this big giant needs to be returned to its wild habitat.. how sad ...
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing that you people would really want a man eatting croc returned to an area where people's lives are being taken by him. This really just amazed me. Copperheads and Rattle Snakes can be killers and live in almost everyone's backyard. If a 20 foot killer snake was found in your backyard, where it was prior to you living there, would you want it captured to be returned back to your yard where your children play? You people need help and about a week living there before feeling so sad for a something that killed a child.
ReplyDeleteAGREED! People should not lose their lives because of an animal...enough said! you people need to stop thinking about huge killer croc's emotions (which they don't have, there call animals for a reason) and think about the families that have lost children and other members of families because of them....kind of pathetic
DeleteThat would make a nice jacket, boots and hell the suitcases to go with them.
ReplyDeletePeople don't seem to understand what removing the largest and most dominant individuals of a species does to that species' population. Lolong has the right traits, characteristics, and DNA that gave him the ability to be such a successful hunter and surviver that he ate well enough and lived long enough to grow to such a collosal size. This incredible size gave him the means to become the obvious dominant male in his territory. That made him the only male to mate with all the females there. When we remove such an enormous dominant male, we remove his DNA (the DNA that made him such a successful and huge croc) from the upcoming generations because another male would assume his dominant role and mate with the females. The next generations now will have the traits of male crocodile that wasn't as prosperous, adaptable, and dominant as Lolong was. Crocodiles, like most of the world's species, have to adapt to the changing conditions of their habitats because humans are destroying the environment faster everyday.
ReplyDelete